BaseElements Plugin and Apple M1 Processor/Apple silicon
When opening the fmAccounting Link or fmEcommerce Link solutions on an Apple computer with the new M1 processor/Apple silicon and FileMaker Pro 19.3.1 or later you might see the following error messages:
1. Plugin Install Error 1550:
2. BaseElements.fmplugin failed to initialize:
FileMaker Pro 19.3.1 or later is now a Universal macOS app, which takes advantage of the advanced capabilities of Mac computers with Apple silicon and also runs on Intel-based Mac computers. If you are running FileMaker Pro on an Apple silicon/M1 Mac you will also need to use plugins that are designed to work with Apple silicon.
Whilst there is a native version of the BaseElements plugin for Apple silicon it won't work with the fmAccounting Link and fmEcommerce Link solutions as a number of the plugin functions that are used have been removed from this version of the plugin. For example these functions have been removed:
BE_JSON_Encode (also appears as BE_JSON_Encode_Deprecated) BE_Base64_Encode (also appears as BE_Base64_Encode_Deprecated)
and will result in <Function Missing> appearing in calculations where these plugin functions would normally appear.
The solution is to force FileMaker Pro to run as an Intel app instead of a native Apple silicon app by switching it to run the Rosetta version. Here's how to change the FileMaker Pro application to use Rosetta on an Apple silicon Mac:
- Quit the FileMaker Pro application if it is currently open
- Find the FileMaker Pro app in your Applications folder
- Select the FileMaker Pro app, and then press Command-I (or right-click/use the File menu and select Get Info.). This will open an Info window with details about the app as shown in the screenshot below
- In the Info window, look for a checkbox labeled, “Open using Rosetta”. Check the box.
- Close the Info window.
Now, whenever you launch FileMaker Pro, your Mac will run the Intel version of the software and use the translation layer and recognise the existing plugins.