Matlab 2019b not working mac OS Catalina - Start desktop error

Hi everyone,

Has anyone managed to use 2019b version with the new Catalina OS Mac update ?

Despite, the compatibility stated at https://www.mathworks.com/support/requirements/matlab-system-requirements.html.

I get an error message "error starting desktop" pointing towards what seems to be a java issue.

Matlab was working perfectly before the update to Catalina.

Thank you very much.

[Andrew Purvis]

Same issue here. I was able to reinstall but it seems like a very broken version of matlab

[Daniel Goodwin]

Same issue. Is there resolution?

Answer 1

[Riccardo Moretti]

I solved the issue!

I went in preferences -> security and privacy -> file and folder -> then I check all the three boxes under Matlab.

Now matlab fortunately works.

[Alison Macdonald]

This did not work for me. But note, for R2020a, the possible Matlab settings are different. I only have "Removable Volumes" and "Documents Folder". If my Italien serves me, under R2019b you have "Download Folder", "Documents Folder" and "Desktop Folder".

[Riccardo Moretti]

Yes, your italian is correct.

I have the version R2019b and for now is still working without other problems.

I haven't download the version R2020a just to be sure.

You can try to download the R2019b version and see if it works.

[Concetta Piazzese]

I solved it in another way.

In my case, Matlab 2019 was like frozen in the list of apps having access to file and folders (preferences -> security and privacy -> Files and Folders).

So, I removed Matlab from the list of app having full disk access (preferences -> security and privacy -> Full Disk access).

At this point, Matlab 2019 became clickable again the in the list of apps having access to file and folders. I clicked all available boxes for Matlab 2019 (I had four).

I then started Matlab 2019 and it worked correctly.

Hope this helps.

ps. Catalina is creating more problems rather than making our life easier.

[Daniela Ramirez]

It worked for me. Thank you! :)

[Lauren Gil]

worked for me too thanks!

[David Agudelo]

Thank you!

[Unai Gutierrez Santiago]

Thanks!!

[Deepak Deepak]

It works for me too! :) Thanks for sharing!

[khalid m]

me too

thanks

[mahmut yueksel]

thanks!!!

[Chongda Zhang]

It works for me !!!

THanks!

[Ekaterina Shamonina]

Thank you! Works for me!

Answer 2

[Alexander Hübscher]

I did not get an Error but Matlab hung up every time while starting. I found a solution for me: If the "Magnet" app is running, close it.

It's the same issue every year. So please MATHWORKS finally fix this annoying bug! Magnet is an important productivity tool and it's working with all other apps except yours. macOS Catalina, MBP 2015.

[Simone Orcioni]

Also my MATLAB hangs for a while at startup, both 2018b and 2019a. Furthermore MATLAB-Help scrolling is slowed down. Very annoying.

[Zongtai Li]

Thank you so much!!!

I tried to reinstall my matlab for like 2 times and get nothing. You save me!!!

btw, you can simply let Magent ignore the matlab. It's not really necessary to close it.

[Terrilayne Tomas Quinsaat]

still the same probelm

[Mads Rossen Madsen]

Thank you for this help. Ignore Matlab in Magnet solved it for me :)

[Güray TÜRKER]

Thank you so much for this solution. It was worked on BigSur 11.2 & Matlab 2021a

Answer 3

[Terrilayne Tomas Quinsaat]

same issue

Answer 4

[Enrico Onofri]

I get an error message starting R2019b on Catalina

Warning: Executing startup failed in matlabrc.

This indicates a potentially serious problem in your MATLAB setup, which should

be resolved as soon as possible. Error detected was:

MATLAB:mir_illegal_import_argument

Error: File: datenum.m Line: 74 Column: 8

The import statement 'import matlab.internal.datatypes.stringToLegacyText'

cannot be found or cannot be imported. Imported names must end with '.*' or be

fully qualified.

and Matlab crashes. No problem with R2019a. Can Mathworks find a fix to this?

If I start matlab on a shell with -nodisplay -nojvm it works! So it must be a problem in the desktop!

E. O.

[Andrew Lipich]

Having lots of trouble with 2019a and b on catelina won't open at all then goes into program not responding mode and never opens....

[Enrico Onofri]

My impression is that matlab depends on too many environmental factors that it is difficult to reproduce this problem. At the moment I can run R2019b on an older macbook pro (2015) under macos15 but not on the newer (2017) also under Catalina. If there is a problem with the Java version I am inclined to give up R2019b since previous vrsions run without any problem. I would suggest Mathworks to advice on the right vrsion of Java or preferably to include it in the package, if possible.

Answer 5

[Tianji Shen]

Maybe this is the issue of compatibility of MacOSX 10.15.1 and MATLAB 2019b.

It seems OK before I update to 10.15.1

Answer 6

[Samatha Aleti]

You can contact the MathWorks support team to help you solve this issue

www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us/

[Sangjae]

They do not help, just saying "remove magnet"

Answer 7

[Chi Wei]

On my 16 inch MacBook Pro, Matlab 2019b just cannot open.

[sasi kala]

same here with 13 inch for even the trial version

[Akide Liu]

same issue on 16inch MacBook pro, 2019b can not open

[Md. Anam Mahmud]

same issue.. 2019b can not open

[Shuai Nie]

Alexander Hübscher's answer solved my problem, please check whether "Magnet" or "Spectacle" app is running, if so, close it.

[Suchet Gopal]

None of the other solutions worked for me but updating to Catalina 10.15.6 solved the problem.

Answer 8

[Terrilayne Tomas Quinsaat]

turned off magnet and still have the same problem. xcode compiler is updated to the 11.3. uninstalled and installed both 2019a and 2019b and still no luck. WILL THERE BE A RESOLUTION SOON??

Answer 9

[Samatha Aleti]

Hi,

One of the things you can do is try to go into safe boot. To enter safe boot, follow these steps:

• Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key.
• The Apple logo appears on your display. Release the Shift key when you see the login window.
• If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

If the issue persists also try the following:

• Open a Terminal window (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and run the following command: $MATLAB/bin/matlab -nodesktop
• If MATLAB starts, run the command “desktop” in the MATLAB windows.

Hope this helps!

[Riccardo Moretti]

I have MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) with OSX 10.15.2 and I have the same problem of Terrilayne Tomas Quinsaat.

I tried to restart the mac in safe boot and also to write the command $MATLAB/bin/matlab in the terminal but nothing work.

There is anything else I can do?

I need to use matlab in this days!

[Werner Müller]

Starting Matlab_R2019b or Matlab_R2020a from the terminal using the command "/Applications/Matlab_R2020a.app/bin/matlab -nodesktop" and after Matlab starts running the command "desktop" works well with Catalina.

It may be a simple act for the Matlab-developers to modify the startup procedure of this versions. Matlab_R2019a works with Catalina without any problem.

[Eileen Dukes]

I was able to start Matlab from the command window (as you describe). On my first try, as soon as I typed "desktop" it opened the window but then hung (same behavior as before). Then, I successfully ran a function with the following error:

Warning: MATLAB Connector is not running.

> In message.subscribe

In connector.internal.webwindowmanager (line 6)

In connector.internal/webwindowmanager/instance (line 14)

In matlab.internal.webwindowmanager.get.windowList (line 123)

In matlab.internal/webwindowmanager/findAllWebwindows (line 91)

In matlab.ui.internal.dialog/DialogUtils/disableAllWindowsSafely (line 24)

In uigetputfile_helper (line 54)

In uigetfile (line 130)

In SixDOF_Main (line 28)

In run (line 91)

After the run completed, I typed desktop again and Matlab successfully opened.

However, my joy was short-lived. I closed the terminal window which terminated Matlab. I then tried opening Matlab again and it reverted to the previous behavior i.e. opened and then hung. Activity Monitor shows "Matlab not responding".

[Alison Macdonald]

This seems to work for me, but it is a nuisance. As an aside, for me everything was working fine using R2018b on Catalina, but then I ran the suggested update and JAVA errors started.

[Colin Raymond]

With R2019a on Catalina I find that the same work-around procedure that Werner mentions is also necessary. Hopefully we will see a bug fix come out soon!

Answer 10

[Tobias Seidler]

+1 on the spinning rainbow wheel of death on 10.15.4 with R2019b on startup. The problem came out of the blue today after running this very setup for weeks. Issue was the macOS accessability API as described here, it seems not to be sorted out. I initially removed all apps from Preferences --> Security & Privacy --> Privacy --> Accessibility to get rid of the bug. Finally tracked the issue down to MS Teams and now only removed this one - this might differ from case to case though.