The following is a description of the problems I had installing Starcraft II on my 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo iMac, as well as the solution I found. I am running Mac OS 10.6.4.
The bug
Three times, I tried installing Starcraft II from the DVD I bought. Each time, the installer hung at 30% completion, on file 06748/37853. Each time it hung, the only thing I could do was manually turn off my computer. The same result occurred regardless of whether I used an administrator account or an ordinary user.
My fix
- Insert the Starcraft II disc
- Open the Disk Utility Program bundled with Mac OS X
- Select the Starcraft II disc from the list on the left side of the window
- Click ‘New Image’
- Set ‘Image Format’ to ‘DVD/CD master’ and ‘Encryption’ to ‘none’.
- Save the disc image to your desktop
- Eject the Starcraft II DVD
- Right click on the disc image and select ‘Open with’ and ‘Disk Utility’
- From the list on the left hand side of the window, select the .cdr file you created earlier
- Right click, and click ‘Open Disc Image’
- Run the installer, out of the disc image
- Once the game is installed, delete the disc image
Make sure nothing is running in the background while you are running the installer. I found that even such minor actions as muting and unmuting the sound were enough to crash the install program.
This may not solve your problem, but it worked for me! Another option is to download the game files from Battle.net, once you have created an account. Of course, downloading several gigabytes of data is likely to take a long time.
[Update: 24 August 2010] I finally got Starcraft II installed and working. I had to download the game from Blizzard and run the installer about six times, before it managed to get all the way through without crashing. Then, I had to download the 1.0.3 patch from a third party website (because the built-in updater always crashes). Even with the third party update file, it took about five tries before the game updated properly and could be played.
[Update: 14 October 2010] Starcraft II is an extremely frustrating game! It is mandatory for me to upgrade to version 1.1.2 in order to play, but the upgrade program fails every time I run it. It suggests erasing and re-installing Starcraft II, but it was such an ordeal to get it installed in the first place that I am reluctant.
I can’t find a direct download of the update file anywhere.
I don’t know why Blizzard installers are so picky, but I think it may have something to do with anti-cheating technology. They try to prevent users from altering the game’s files, but the protective systems that do that may cause install and upgrade errors.
[Update: 15 November 2010] I finally got the 1.1.3 patch installed, but it took a lot of work. I had to backup all my personal data to external drives, format the hard drive in my iMac, re-install OS X, re-install Starcraft II, and then install each patch.
The fact that it works now suggested that some sort of software problem was causing all the difficulties earlier. Mac users who are having the same problems should consider doing a ‘clean install’ of the kind described above. I tried simply over-writing the operating system files (an ‘archive and install’) but it did not work.
If you need them, the Starcraft II patches can be downloaded directly from Blizzard instead of by using the automatic updater.
The above trickery has not done me much good.
I need to upgrade to version 1.0.3 to play, and the updater crashes my Mac every time.
Maybe I have a bad stick of RAM…
Bad RAM doesn’t seem to be the problem. Does anyone have another idea?
Bad logic board? Something else?
I am having similar problem. Error message:
Blizzard Updater was unable to read the file “StarCraft II Editor.app/Contents/Resources/SC2Map.icns”. This error may be caused by problems with the media or drive at –for example, a scratched or dirty CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, hard drive corruption, or a networking problem while downloading the update. (The error code was 0.) : DecompressJob::Execute()
I booted from a Snow Leopard install disc and repaired permissions and my hard drive, but no errors were detected.
One possibility eliminated, but still no solution.
How to Improve StarCraft 2 Performance on Mac OS
Sad for Mac guys as they are experiencing some horrible performance issues with StarCraft 2 even on the high end specs. There are few things you can try to enhance the StarCraft 2 performance on Mac OS.
Workaround #1
Download the Mac OS X 10.6.4 combo updater, which is 887MB but will you troubleshooting. Quit all open applications and run the installer.
Workaround #2 only if Workaround #1 Fails
Boot your Mac in Safe Mode then simply restart normally is enough to resolve number of issues after the recent Mac OS update by Apple. It will clear potentially problematic cache and may resolve your issues.
To boot in Safe Mode, hold the Shift key while your Mac is starting up. After booting in Safe Mode, simply restart normally and check if this has any significant effect.
Workaround #3 Only if Workaround#1 and #2 Fail
Downgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.3. Although this option eliminates important security fixes included in Mac OS X 10.6.4, along with any other enhancements, it may be the only option.
Reinstall Mac OS
Insert your Snow Leopard installation disc, then restart while holding down the C key. When prompted, choose the normal “Install” option. Make sure to select “Preserve Users and Network Settings.”
After installation, you’ll be left with an earlier iteration of Mac OS X 10.6.x (most current retail discs include Mac OS X 10.6.2), but an otherwise largely intact system. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.3 combo updater and apply it if your disc has an earlier version of Snow Leopard. You may need to restore your data.
Restore from Time Machine Backup
If you have a current Time Machine backup. Connect the Time Machine backup disk, and insert your Snow Leopard installation disc, then restart while holding down the C key. After selecting your language, go to the Utilities menu and choose“Restore from Time Machine Backup.” Choose your Time Machine backup disk and choose a backup iteration directly prior to when you installed the Mac OS X 10.6.4, and continue with the process.
Has this been a common problem on Macs? You’d think for such a big launch they would have made triple sure things were going to be as smooth as possible…
Apparently, Starcraft II runs quite badly in OS X.
People have been reporting that it runs more smoothly and reliably – with better graphics – when using Windows 7, even on the same machine.
The game runs awful in Mac OS, I am just using it in bootcamp until Blizzard fixes their crap. Didn’t they BETA TEST this thing????
I had the same problem as you and fixed it. Now the 1.1.2 patch won’t install!
This is the buggiest game ever!
Below are the patches for StarCraft II. While StarCraft II will patch automatically using the Blizzard Downloader, the below files can be used if you’d prefer to download the patches directly. Please note that patch mirrors are not always available immediately, and the latest patch will always be available on the Blizzard Downloader.