Fixing Suitcase Fusion launch problem after an OSX 10.5.6 update

If you’re running Extensis Suitcase Fusion 2 and recently updated to OSX 10.5.6, you may have run into the problem of Fusion not launching. The cause of the problem appears to be an issue with your Mac’s Bonjour name if the name is too long, or contains spaces or special characters. If you are experiencing the problem, here’s a quick way to fix it that requires little effort and no special hacks or software tools. To change the computer’s Bonjour name:

1. Open your System Preferences and click the Sharing icon
2. If you are not running as an Administrator, click the “lock” icon to authenticate with an admin username and password
3. Change the computer name to something shorter and less complex. Extensis suggests a name of 20 characters or less, with no punctuation. For example, “Joe-MacBook” or “MacPro2” or something like that
4. Click the Edit button beneath the computer name. This displays the Bonjour name. Confirm that this has the same name (although it may be lower-case). It will also have the suffix “.local” automatically appended. For example, “joe-macbook.local” or “macpro2.local”
5. Click OK to confirm the change
6. Restart your Mac

That’s it. Suitcase Fusion 2 should now launch properly.