Adobe Addresses CS3/Mac OS X 10.6.3 Launch Issues: Serial Number to Blame

We reported earlier this week an issue in which Photoshop CS3 and other Adobe CS3 apps fail to launch under Mac OS X 10.6.3. In some cases, the application launches then immediately quits; in others the dock bounces in the icon and proceeds no further.

Adobe has now addressed this issue in a TechNote, and says that launch will fail on systems “where the system serial number is a value with more than 12 characters. This appears to only be the case when the system serial number doesn’t have a valid number, but instead has a value such as ‘System Serial#’, or ‘SystemSerialNumb.'”

The TechNote echoes two solutions we published in our earlier report: turning off the Rosetta option and reverting to Mac OS X 10.6.2. It also offers a third option: “OBTAIN A NEW SYSTEM SERIAL NUMBER; For assistance with this, please contact Apple or your Apple reseller.”

Some users have already reported success with the replacement serial number solution. Apple Discussions poster Nick Savis writes;

“I took the Mac to the Apple store I bought it from and the tech knew where to find it. The he boots up from a CD containing a special application just for this purpose. It took about 2 minutes. It was free for me because they replaced the mother board and forgot to insert Serial No.”

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.