Having trouble installing Forge on Mac

[Feira426]

Hello. I'm trying to install Forge on an old Mac laptop for my daughter, and I've gotten stuck. Hoping someone here can help me - I would really appreciate it. I've spent hours looking online for a solution, but to no avail; so here I am.

 

So. I'll do my best to describe my issue. I downloaded the newest (I think) version of Java, downloaded the Forge installer, and tried to follow the instructions for running the installer on a Mac. But I'm getting a popup from the computer telling me I need a JDK to use the installer. To be more precise, it says:

Quote

To use the "java -jar forge-1.14.4-28.0.93- installer.jar" command-line tool you need to install a JDK. Click "More Info..." to visit the Java Developer Kit download website.

Below this, the popup gives two options: "Okay," which closes the popup, and "More Info," which opens a Java webpage with multiple download links. I downloaded two somethings which had "JDK" in their names (the other links all appeared to be for downloading something else), waited for the downloads to complete, and tried running the installer again. Got the same popup. I don't fully understand what a JDK even is, but a little research told me I shouldn't need one at all, and I didn't need one to install Forge on our Windows desktop.

 

The Forge Installer file is called "forge-1.14.4-28.0.93-installer.jar." This is what I am clicking to try to run the installer. It is in my downloads folder in the Finder.

 

I'm not sure what other information you might need. I did read the rules and saw this:

• Be sure to include the entire logs/debug.log (logs/fml-{client/server}-latest.log for versions before 2629) found in your .minecraft folder / server root folder. Not including the log in no way helps us to help you and has a small chance of getting you banned.

And PLEASE don't ban me - I am trying to follow the rules - but I don't what this one means. I don't know all that much about computers, and I'm kind of sensing that maybe I have no business using this forum; but I don't know where else to turn to fix my problem.

 

I did some research and found out how to access the system log, and when I try to open the installer, the computer logs a date and time and

Quote

Joshuas-MBP com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.JarLauncher.6232[8405]): Service exited with abnormal code: 97

I don't know if that's what I'm supposed to give you, as it doesn't look anything like the logs/debug thing mentioned in the rules. I also tried looking in the minecraft folder under Library, and I found a log folder there, but I didn't see any logs relevant to Forge at all, nor any from the correct day.

 

I'm sorry if I didn't include all the right information. If there's anything else I need to include please let me know. If you can help me get Forge running on our laptop that would really be spectacular.

 

Oh, the laptop is apparently running "macOS Sierra version 10.12.6." In case that's important.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Feira426

[Feira426]

Yes, hi! Thanks so much for getting back to me so fast.

 

The jar file is in the downloads folder in Finder. I first had to do a right click and "Okay" thing to bypass some kind of security feature in the Mac (something about running a program that's not part of some kind of Apple app list). But now I can just double-click to open it.

 

I was following these instructions:  https://www.wikihow.com/Install-Minecraft-Forge

You have to scroll down a bit to get to the Mac part. Instructions got me past the Mac security thing I just described, but didn't address the JDK thing.

[Feira426]

To expound, I can see the file in Finder and I can double-click it, but instead of running the installer, the computer gives me the popup about needing a JDK and I haven't been able to figure out how to deal with that.

[Feira426]

Looks like the website was https://www.java.com/en/download/mac_download.jsp. I just clicked "Agree and Start Free Download."

 

I'm noticing now that there is a little yellow triangular icon just above the "Agree and Start Free Download" button. It says:

 

Quote

We have detected you are using Google Chrome and might be unable to use the Java plugin from this browser. Starting with Version 42 (released April 2015), Chrome has disabled the standard way in which browsers support plugins.

That seems like it could be important, but I don't really understand what a plugin is or what this might mean for me.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Feira426
Messed up the quote box

[Feira426]

Well, darn. Thank you for trying. Do you know anyone I can ask who might be able to help me?

[Feira426]

Okay. Thank you.