Symptom
An alert box with this message appears:
"Final Cut Pro requires a System ID file which is either missing or invalid. Please reinstall using the original CD that was used to install Final Cut Pro."
OR
The Final Cut Pro 3 installer unexpectedly quits near the end of the installation process.
OR
The Final Cut Pro 3 application unexpectedly quits directly after installation.
Solution
Try one or more of the following troubleshooting steps:
- If you are using Final Cut Pro on a dual-processor computer in Mac OS X, download and install the Final Cut Pro 3.0.1 update.
- Be sure to carefully follow the instructions in technical document 75215: "Final Cut Pro 3: Before You Install" or technical document 61001; "Final Cut Pro 3: Before You Upgrade". (These are also displayed by the installer.)
- Check Apple Software Downloads (http://www.apple.com/swupdates/) for the latest Final Cut Pro updates.
- In the Internet pane of System Preferences, in the Email tab, make sure that the User Account ID and Outgoing Mail Server fields are either both
filled or both empty before installing. The installer can fail if one field is filled out and the other is empty, resulting in a Final Cut Pro 3 application that will not open. This applies to Mac OS X only.
- Reinstall from the original Final Cut Pro CD
- If you are installing Final Cut Pro for Mac OS 9, do not run the installer from Mac OS X in Classic. If you have already done so, you will need to
uninstall and reinstall the software by following the next step.
Important: Installing a Final Cut Pro update while the application is running will result in an incomplete installation. Make sure that you quit the
program before installing an update.
- If the issue persists even after reinstalling, follow these steps:
1. If using Final Cut Pro for Mac OS X, delete the Final Cut Pro 3 application package. If using Final Cut Pro for Mac OS 9, delete the Final Cut Pro 3 folder. Note: Be sure to remove any files you may have added to these directories, such as custom FXScripts.
2. Remove any of the following folders that may be present on your drive(s):
/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support (Mac OS X only)
/System Folder/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support (Mac OS 9 only)
/System Folder/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data (Mac OS 9 only)
Note: By deleting these folders you will lose FCP preferences such as custom presets, setups, and window layouts.
3. Empty the Trash
4. Disconnect third-party hardware such as USB devices
5. Reinstall from the original Final Cut Pro CD