Problem with DING! from southwest

[watershedsean]

hey there, i need help, everytime i try to download ding for my 1st generation macbook, it says "DING! engine failed to initialize, shutting program down" does anyone know what this means and how can i fix it so i can utilize DING from southwest. thanks a lot!

-watershedsean

 

[rogbon]

Hey Watershedsean,

i'm having the same problem too. I'm running Leopard 10.5.1.
Not sure but it might have something to do with firewall or networking???

Have you learned anything yet?

 

[bobtomay]

I would uninstall and re-download it.

Sounds more like a bad download...Don't think that error would have anything to do with your connection.

 

[FredS]

DING problems

My wife has been a fan of DING for a few years; she ran it all the time on a PowerPC based iMac.
Last year we got her a Macbook; DING has not run since then but I have ignored the problem.

Last night I installed Leopard hoping that this problem would go away. It hasn't & we get the same error message you do "DING! engine failed to initialize, shutting program down".

I have uninstalled DING etc, reloaded it with no luck - the same problem.
I don't believe that a bad download is the issue.

Just for kicks, I also installed it on my PowerPC G5 system and it ran fine.

So I called the SWA main number since they have no tech support listed.
After being route around customer relations etc, I had to give up - tech support from people who want to book flights is surreal. And SWA does not have an email support site so customers are left to grapple on their own

But they did mention security, firewalls etc. I made sure that my wife's Macbook is highly insecure; it will not block anything downloaded. I don't think that's the issue

The creation date of DING is June 23, 2006 and predates (I think) the Intel based Macs.

I'm at a loss as how to fix this.
SWA releasing software that they wont support is unethical.

If no answers develop on this forum, I will send a letter to SWA and ask them to query the development team which I presume is a third party.

So no help but sympathy for a shared experience.

 

[bobtomay]

Can't help, but I do have a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, both installed and run Ding without issue.

 

[FredS]

I called SWA's SOS department; they say they are aware of the problem and are working with Apple to fix it. I received no information as to what the problem is and the SWA person was determined not to let me get past her. Last night I spoke to another person at SWA & he had me connected with a support technician who unfortunately couldn't help. Today's contact's position was that it was an Apple problem and the solution would have to come from Apple. I have a hard time believing this will rate high on Apple's priorities.

SOS is an internal SWA department and today's contact seemed concerned that I had pried the contact number from the organization; the number is 214 792 4223.

I am not optimistic that this issue will be resolved soon - particularly if it only occurs on some Macbooks.

 

[bobtomay]

Sounds like the way AOL operates (or at least did for many, many years...doubt it's changed).

error: aol.xxx caused an exception with aol.exe
Call aol support -
Oh, that's a Microsoft problem, you need to call them.

 

[cboyce]

Problem solved! At least for me

I was having the same "Ding Engine Failed to Initialize" problem as everyone else here. Problem went away after I trashed the preferences.

This is the file:

com.SouthwestAirlines.DING!1.05.plist

It is in the user's Library folder. You can do a Spotlight search for "southwest" and find it that way.

Interestingly, Ding worked fine on my G4 PowerBook. I used Migration Assistant to move Ding (and everything else to my new MacBook). Ding would not work on the MacBook until I tossed its preferences file into the Trash. I took a look at the old preferences and the new ones and they aren't the same, not exactly.

Maybe the problem has to do with going from a G4 machine to an Intel machine with the same prefs. Maybe we can find out here. Anyhow, tossing the prefs worked like a charm for me and I hope it does for you!

c

 

[cboyce]

Correction

Sorry, that preference file is in the Preferences folder, in the Library, in your Home folder (the one with the house icon).

Officially, it's ~/Library/Preferences/com.SouthwestAirlines.DING!1.05.plist

or...

(your hard disk)/Users/(your home folder)/Library/Preferences/com.SouthwestAirlines.DING!1.05.plist

Got all excited about making the Ding work and forgot to be careful in my description of the solution...

 

[YourStix]

That did it

Deleting that file in Library > Preferences did it! Thanks for the easy fix.

 

[oncedarkness]

WOW!!! That fixed it right away. thxxxx

 

[TechnoBob]

Christmas morning 2009
Had the same problem upon replacing a G4 iBook with an Intel Macbook Pro.

Deleting this plist file solved the problem immediately. Glad I did a search to find this thread before entering into a cycle of uninstall/download/reinstall/fail.

Thanks, cboyce!

 

[hughvane]

This is a splendid example of how M-F cooperation and feedback works - and rep points are forthcoming.

 

[TeaEarleGreyHot]

Solution Works!

Fantastic, cboyce! Thank you so much. And thanks to Mac-forums.com for being here with exactly the answer I needed to fix my trouble in under 3 minutes. Glad to have found this venue, will keep looking!

----------------
iMac Core 2 Duo, Snow Leopard 10.6.4

 

[Momasita]

Problem with DING! from Southwest

Have tried the suggested fixes, but my Snow Leopard 10.7.1 will still not initialize the Ding! app. Any other suggestions? Perhaps I need to reboot?

 

[Dogbreath]

Momasita...FYI Snow Leopard OS is 10.6.8. Mac OS 10.7 is Lion. I would suggest checking to see exactly which OS you are running and start a new thread. This thread is over 2 years old. Good luck in your quest.

 

[chas_m]

For Lion and later, download the latest version of Ding and don't use an older PPC version.

Or, since you really need this info on your iPhone more than on your Mac in most cases, simply use the iOS version of the app.