Hello all
I have a problem that i cannot solve so decided to create this topic (after searching on the forum)
Axioms:
Mac mini M4
fresh installation of last version of blocs plus
a/ trying to open projects done months ago
b/ creating from scratch a new project
c/ using an official template
Problem:
at all projects (a or b or c) the image doesn’t appear on the builder but appear on the data and preview maybe I miss something obvious?
If someone has a tip
you are more than welcome
cheers
I have also had this happen very intermittently (so not enough clues to tie it down) for about a year or so.
Are you running Blocs from the application folder on your Mac’s main HD?
This typically happens when Blocs is run from an external drive, Blocs needs to be located on the same drive as your Macs application support directory.
Also if you cloned the app (from a backup) it may have been given limited access to your Macs HD.
Try a fresh install of just the Blocs app.
thx
after reading some others topics it was this point that I digged
but as u can see it is in the Applications folder of Mac HD
a point important I guess my user folder is based on an external NVMe
But after trying to save a project on a folder created inside the applications folder (with assets embedded in project)
Nothing changed (same behavior)
Projects don’t need to be in the Application folder.
Currently MacOS is not allowing Blocs to load the images from a location on your Mac and show them within the web canvas inside of Blocs.
Only the main Blocs application needs to be in the application directory on Your Mac, that is the main requirement.
Did you install Blocs fresh on this Mac? Download and install it?
Also if you create a new project and and save to your Macs desktop do the images load?
it was just for a try (creating a folder of “test” in app folder)
btw it was to try to have Applications and all the assets etc etc on the same internal HD of Mac mini
creating a new project, choosing a template included in BLOCS:
nothing open on the builder but appears on the preview
saving this new project on the desktop (meaning user/desktop of the external HD): not working
saving it on the Mac HD/app/test folder: not working
it is fresh installation
new try:
i have different accounts
my main one
where I work on (with applications folder on the internal HD of Mac mini + user folder on the external one)
this is this one which have the problem
and one as “backup”
(never used at all, just to create the main one)
this one has EVERYTHING on the internal HD of the Mac mini (app, and user folder)
this one has no problem at all to work (all images appear as it should be)
According to it:
Is this a problem to have the project recorded on an external HD?
Possibly, when Blocs opens a project from an external drive, it needs to copy all of the resources from it to the local file system (internal drive) in order to show them as they will not display from an external drive due to OS security.
Blocs handles this automatically, however, what can cause issues is drive speed, the images may take a little while to copy and write to your Macs HD space, or there is not enough space on the HD.
Only the canvas is effected by this security measure, you will find the images load in the other parts of the UI and in preview mode.
Which version of MacOS are you running?
using TAHOE last version
and my external NVme is 2800 write and 3000 read (quicker than the original 256Gb in the Mac mini)
Only the canvas is effected by this security measure, you will find the images load in the other parts of the UI and in preview mode
and this is definitely the problem I have (as the screenshots show)
If you move the projects onto the Macs main HD do the assets load in both accounts?
I will have to run some tests with the latest Tahoe and external drives to see if there are any changes that will effect this.
When you export a project with this issue, are all assets included in the export img directory?
What do you mean by this? That your projects are stored on this drive or that the OS is configured to use this drive space as part of the OS setup?
What do you mean by this? That your projects are stored on this drive or that the OS is configured to use this drive space as part of the OS setup?
I mean the Home folder is based on the external NVMe
so the applications are on Macintosh HD (internal of Mac mini)
the user folders (desktop, pictures, video, downloading, iCloud etc etc) on the external one
it looks maybe a webkit problem?
Blocs canvas WebKit + Home on external (/Volumes/…) = canvas use impossible
Thanks for all the details,
Yes, a custom shared configuration may not be supported, did you set this up via ( System Settings → Users & Groups) ?
yes exactly
just using advanced option (on users & groups) and choosing Home folder on external NVMe
Ok, I will take a look and see if there is a way to make this setup work, but I can’t guarantee it will.
Blocs may expect parts of ~/Library to be fast and always available.
What I think is happening at the moment is Blocs is not identifying your external drive as an external drive, so the images are not managed correctly.
thx @Norm
waiting for your feedback
cheers
Hello all
little feedback to people whom will be in same case as me
so to resume:
Mac mini 256GB (so pretty easily full if you have all documents in different folders internally)
so the idea was to target from a session ALL the HOME (user) to an external NVMe of 4Tb
Problem:
with this system, Blocs didn’t like it at all in the canvas (cf above)
so the easy solution was to keep a session fully on my internal HD (256Gb)
and just to modify the left side of the finder with the link of “download”, “movies”, “music” which target the folders created on the NVMe
NOT THE BEST BUT sometimes the simplest solution is the less inconvenient
I’ve just found a solution:
Create an ‘Applications’ folder in the root directory of your external drive that contains your ‘Users’ folder. Move the Blocs app from the Applications folder on your hard drive into the external drive’s Application folder and run Blocs from there.
This resolves the file path and permission conflicts between the Mac’s internal storage and external drive and prevents macOS sandboxing restrictions from blocking the asset previews. Now the images show up in the Blocs editor window.
There doesn’t seem to be a problem with the Blocs app being run from the fast external NVMe when your user Library/Application Support folder is on the same drive.
I’ve have a Mac mini too with my home folder on an external drive and I found your post because I was experiencing the same problem. I was really happy when everything suddenly started working properly! 
thx @cubasis
IT WORKS 
and your solution is much cleaner and far better than mine
by the way, I created an “application folder” inside the User of the NVMe days ago for huge programs like Davinci, Affinity suite (to increase free space on internal HD) and never ever thought once that putting BLOCS app there (like others ones) will solve this problem
But just tried and it is perfectly smooth and fine 
Images appear on canvas and preview etc etc
Again thx a lot for the tip
Cheers from Kyoto
PS: *by the way, I was tiny bit afraid of limitation of the Mac mini M4 base model (with 2x DELL 32 inches 4K screens),
but after running BLOCS, Affinity suite (for retouching pictures / logos, svg etc), Codex (optimizing CSS) and ChatGPT at same time: I have no lags at all
it is pretty smooth so clearly a great choice at cheap price for our jobs
This is amazing, thank you for sharing your solution.
So to summarise, if you run Blocs from the same HD as your assets, it works. I’m not sure how, as Blocs usually needs to be on the same drive as the application support directory.
When you move your Home folder to an external SSD the user application support directory also gets moved to the external SSD.
The Mac mini M4 (when it first came out) was incredible value at £599 and the base model RAM was good at 16GB. The downside was the storage being only 256GB, and upgrading your storage through Apple as we all know costs an absolute fortune. So manufacturers and YouTubers came up with great solutions.
I bought a Beelink Mate mini Dock with a very fast preinstalled 2TB SSD for $299. If you add 2TB from the Apple Store it currently costs an extra £1,000!!! There’s a YouTuber with a very comprehensive guide to moving your home folder to the external SSD so you don’t run out of space on the small internal one.
Like @SENEK I’ve also created an Application folder on the external drive for huge apps. Not all apps work seamlessly from an external drive, but there are a lot of self contained apps that work perfectly. I create shortcuts to the external apps and put the alias in the internal drive’s Application folder.
Buy the Base Storage and do this! Move your Home folder to an external drive.
Clearly don’t know if it can help but when you move the HOME (user) to an external drive through the users & groups
As @cubasis said: MAC OS creates at same time a Library folder (support application etc etc)
PS: in French on the screen “bibliotheque” = library
