Many obscure bugs which are reported by our users are often fixed by resetting FlowJo's preferences. A likely scenario for damaging the prefs file is upgrading though multiple versions of FlowJo. I'd say it's good to reset them each time you upgrade, but that's just me.
To do this the right way:
(1) first and foremost, ensure there is only one version of FlowJo on your computers. Different versions of flowjo may manipulate the Preferences file in ways that make it "corrupted" for other versions. Generally, the fastest way to achieve this is to search for "file name contains flowjo" and "kind is application".
After you find all other version of flowjo, please put them into Trash, and empty the Trash.
(2) if you are using a serial number (offline or site license) you will lose it in the next step. So make sure you copy/paste it to a text file/email.
(3). Using Finder, search for "FlowJo plist" without the quotes. Then delete these three files:
You may find yours in slighly different paths than mine, depending on how your mac is configured. Replace "maciejsimm" with your user login ;)
Empty trash!
(4) Start FlowJo and optionally re-enter your serial number. Things should be back to normal!
Cannot see the text of samples and groups after opening a new workspace. After fixing the preferences (set to default), the program runs normally until it is closed. Upon reopening, the text is invisible again in new workspaces. The new version appears to have corrupted the old version of Flowjo.
Posted by: Michael Gerner | March 20, 2008 at 03:01 PM
Hi Michael, we found that 8.7 was causing a change to the prefs file. If 8.7 remains on your file system after 8.7.1 has been installed, double-clicking old workspaces will still invoke 8.7 - and this action will garble the prefs.
Once 8.7 AND the faulty prefs are removed from the file system, this error should go away.
Posted by: Maciej Simm | March 24, 2008 at 02:44 PM
I have the same error and I don't have a flowjo plist file in my computer nor the 8.7 distribution of Flowjo.
Posted by: Jorge R Almeida | April 28, 2008 at 09:08 AM
Hello Jorge, perhaps you are experiencing an unrelated problem. I can't tell by the description, please send full description to flowjo at treestar dot com.
Posted by: Maciej Simm | May 07, 2008 at 04:40 PM
i have the same problem as the Jorge Almedia, where all the file names are invisible on 8.2.2. i did all the things listed on the daily dongle, such as deleting all of the old versions of flowjo and resetting the factory preferences and this have not fixed the problem. if you have found a solution for Jorge could you please post it and forward it to me.
Thanks,
Molly
Posted by: molly ingersoll | October 14, 2008 at 01:33 PM
This is happening to me now for the first time in 2011.
How do I fix it? have been using same computer for 5 years without trouble! now suddenly I can't see the samples at all.
Posted by: Anne | April 08, 2011 at 06:22 PM
Anne, try deleting your prefs as per the post instructions above ;)
Posted by: maciej simm | April 11, 2011 at 01:32 PM
the flowjo diagnostic tool now knows how to find and move these files to the desktop (better than deleting, since you can either put them back or email to me for analysis.)
this link contains the diagnostic version that is contemporary with my comment. If your read this months/years later, and the link is broken, just email simm at treestar for the latest.
http://offsite.treestar.com/downloads/10.0.7b/fjdiag.jar
Posted by: maciej simm | April 08, 2013 at 03:09 PM