“The font activation cannot complete due to an OS activation error.”

Description

This article describes what to do if a user gets an error stating: “The font activation cannot complete due to an OS activation error” when attempting to activate fonts. Users who remove fonts from /System/Library/Fonts and the ProtectedFonts folder may find that they cannot activate any fonts in their font manager. Attempts to do so produce an error message.

Solution

If this occurs, the following messages appear in the OSX Console:

ATS was unable to instantiate some or all of the protected fonts.
ATS is unable to switch to Read/Write database
- ATS will run off of a read-only database.
Only System Fonts will be available.

There are two ways to work around this issue:

1. Restore the protected fonts to their proper locations

   Restore the affected fonts to /System/Library/Fonts and the ProtectedFonts folder. Next, reset the operating system font caches by performing a Safe Boot, or using a third-party utility such as FontNuke or Font Doctor.

2. Turn off system font alerts in Font Book

   Make sure you are logged in as an administrator on your Mac.

   • Launch Terminal from /Applications/Utilities
   • To turn off system font protection, enter sudo atsutil fontprotection -off and press Return. Enter your password when prompted.
   • Quit Terminal.

After doing the above, it’s a good idea to clear the OSX system font caches. This KB article explains how.

Related KB Articles:

1. Suitcase Fusion 4 Recommendations for MacOS 10.7 (Lion)
2. Suitcase Fusion 3 Recommendations for MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
3. Suitcase Fusion 4 Recommendations for MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
4. Suitcase Fusion 3 Recommendations for MacOS 10.5 (Leopard)
5. Suitcase Fusion 4 Recommendations for MacOS 10.5 (Leopard)
6. Troubleshooting “OS Activation” errors
7. Clearing the Mac OS X font cache
8. InDesign doesn’t recognize the Type 1 PostScript version of HelveticaNeue on MacOS X 10.6

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