Extensions don't show up in Ai CC 2018

Report · Oct 19, 2017

After updating Illustrator from version 21 to 22, the content in my custom panels don’t show up.

These are panels I’m working on as well as other extensions. They are in this folder:

/Users/[NAME]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/

System: Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

If I open them in Ai from menu Window > Extensions, they are listed and I can open them. But the panel icons are missing and the panels are blank.

Any ideas, how to solve that?

Report · Oct 19, 2017

Is the extension signed?

If not, might be a new CSXS file (CSXS.7 previously) / need to re enable debug mode

Try open terminal and type:

defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.8 PlayerDebugMode 1

and see if it will work?

Not updated yet myself so can't check personally

If this doesn't work, have you updated your manifest.xml file?

<Host Name="ILST" Version="[22]" /> (add version 22 to the array)

<Host Name="ILST" Version="[18.0,22]" /> to have multiple from start - end iirc

Report · Oct 19, 2017

Yes, I thought of this as well and tried that, but it does not fix the problem.
I have the impression, it might be something on higher level. As a test I installed a new extension, the Getty Images Plugin and it does not show up as well. https://exchange.adobe.com/addons/patches/38437

Report · Oct 19, 2017

I have the same problem. My extension Roland CutStudio doesn't work anymore. Can't find it in the tab 'Window'. In my essentials classic pane, the button is still there. Just the window is blanc.

Report · Apr 17, 2018

Did you ever find a fix? I have the same issue.

Report · Oct 19, 2017

AFAIK, Many blank panels are due to misconfiguration of PlayerDebugMode.

Try to set PlayerDebugMode under the user preferences like below.

defaults write /Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXS.8.plist PlayerDebugMode 1

Report · Oct 20, 2017

Same issue in Illustrator and Photoshop CC 2018.

Setting PlayerDebugMode to 1 doesn't solve.

Setting <Host Name="ILST" Version="22.0"/> and <Host Name="PHSP" Version="19.0"/> in manifest.xml doesn't solve.

Report · Oct 20, 2017

Please note that setting the version number as an array should always require two values, e.g.

(no spaces – some have reported that one space after the comma breaks the manifest)

If you want to set a minor version only, just specify it without square brackets, e.g

Blank panels either have something wrong (...) or they're not properly signed – so adding the PlayerDebugMode "1" string in the proper CEP 8 location should solve. Photoshop gives you a warning when you launch them the first time, doesn't Illustrator say anything?

Davide Barranca - PS developer and author
www.ps-scripting.com

Report · Oct 22, 2017

Mac restarted, problem solved, ok thank you.

Report · Oct 20, 2017

I'll move this discussion to the EXTENSIONS / ADD-ONS DEVELOPMENT.

Report · Oct 20, 2017

I also did the same problem and was able to resolve by editing the CSXS preference properties file, located at:

Win: regedit> HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Adobe / CSXS.8, add a new PlayerDebugMode entry of type "string" with a value of "1".

Mac: At the terminal, type: write patterns com.adobe.CSXS.8 PlayerDebugMode 1 (The plist is also located in /Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXS.8.plist)

Report · Oct 24, 2017

I´m sorry to say that these changes did not fix the problem on my end:

changing Host version in maifest.xml to <Host Name="ILST" Version="[19.0,22.0]"/>
com.adobe.CSXS.8 PlayerDebugMode 1

All extension panels still show up, but the content is missing. And not only the panels I'm working on myself, but also panels I installed, like the Getty Image extension.

So, I looked into the log files (in folder: /Users/[myname]/Library/Logs/CSXS) of my sample panel and compared these files:

CEPHtmlEngine7-ILST-21.1.0-com.adobe.Samples.Panel.log
CEPHtmlEngine8-ILST-22.0.0-com.adobe.Samples.Panel.log

The first log file showed all items that had been loaded with the old Ai version, but the second has a sign problem:

2017-10-23 16:29:42:772 : INFO CEPHTMLENGINE, begin to verify the signature of "com.adobe.Samples.Panel"

2017-10-23 16:29:42:772 : INFO CEPHTMLENGINE, end to verify the signature of "com.adobe.Samples.Panel", isSigned false, isAdobeExtension false

2017-10-23 16:29:42:772 : ERROR Signature verification failed for "com.adobe.Samples.Panel"!

The Getty Image extension log file has a lot of Errors as well:

…

[1024/092909.037613:ERROR:child_thread_impl.cc(762)] Request for unknown Channel-associated interface: ui::mojom::GpuMain

…

extension id:(none)
…

My colleges are using my packed extension I created for Ai 21 in Ai 22 and they work fine. So, it seems to be a problem with my development environment.

Any ideas on this?

Report · Oct 24, 2017

The ranges can be setup to be inclusive or upto.

Try just setting <Host Name="ILST" Version="18" />

On the Mac after the debug mode has been set you need to kill cfprefsd

The easiest way of doing this described here.

Setting Cep Debug Mode and Log Level the Easy Way | Creative-Scripts.com

In short

In terminal

defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.8.plist PlayerDebugMode 1 && killall -u `whoami` cfprefsd

You can also Command Option Right Click on Finder and then click on relaunch (I think that should kill it)

Or you can restart the Mac (logging out and signing back should also work)

In real short after setting the debug mode did you restart the mac?

Report · Oct 30, 2017

Same issue trying to use the Cineware plugin for Illustrator - .aip file is in Plugins folder, but doesn't show up in Window > Extensions. Tried to set debug mode & log levels as well as restarting as Trevor advised but no change.

Report · Oct 30, 2017

Which OS and what do the log files say?

Report · Nov 02, 2017

OS is Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11.6). Not sure how to get you the relevant logs? I also tried installing Illustrator CC 2017 and the extension was showing in Window > Extensions, but all tool panels are blank.

Report · Nov 02, 2017

Whats your user name?

Report · Nov 02, 2017

In short

/Users/Trevor/Library/Logs/CSXS

Change Trevor to your user name

file:///Users/Trevor/Library/Logs/CSXS

If your user name is mirav then it would be /Users/mirav/Library/Logs/CSXS

Report · Nov 06, 2017

Thanks for your help Trevor, my issue is solved, pure user error!

Turns out the extension doesn't appear in Window > Extensions as I expected, but instead is listed among all the normal tool options in the Window tab, I noticed it there today.

Report · Nov 15, 2017

I have a similar issue with an .aip plugin that has worked (and shows up) in all previous CC versions but it does not appear in the window dropdown menu off CC 2018. Any ideas/advice/etc.....? Were you able to get any help that worked?

Report · Nov 15, 2017

I found my extension in the list of regular tools instead of the Extensions folder I was looking for it in (under the Window tab)! Worth a check.

Report · Feb 09, 2018

I see this after clicking on Window -> Extentions -> MyExtention

2018-02-09 16:45:15:199 : ERROR Signature verification failed for extension com.example.michaeltest

2018-02-09 16:45:15:199 : ERROR Headlights service fails to log extension data.

defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.8.plist PlayerDebugMode 1 && killall -u username cfprefsd and rebooting - does not help

Also i see this -

high sierra 10.13.3

Report · Nov 20, 2018

I'm hoping someone can help with this.......there's a plugin (snapfashun.aip) that worked perfectly on MAC for every past version of IllustratorCC and when IllustratorCC 2018 came out the plugin no longer shows up in the window drop down even though it shows up in the plugins folder (see attached photo). Does anyone know why this is happening or what's changes since CC2017.....and most importantly how to fix it?

Report · Nov 27, 2018

Hi SnapFashun,

I can verify that SnapLibrary.aip works correctly in Illustrator 2017 but does not appear in 2018 or 2019, instead I get this error when Illustrator launches:

This is all on Mac OS 10.13.6 High Sierra.

Are you the plugin's developer or a regular user? If you're a user, I'd contact the developer. If you're the developer, I can try to get someone on the Illustrator team to help.

Report · Nov 28, 2018

Thank you for the reply. We are the developer however we are not able to figure out what happened with the combo of Illustrator 2018 and High Sierra........it works with High Sierra and Illustrator 2017 and all previous editions. There are no issues with Windows in any Illustrator Version. Any assistance or contact with Adobe will be helpful. So far any attempts to reach out to Adobe ends up in the forum discussions only. Thank you.