Hey — listen, I was poking around with Dirt 3 Fansite Toolkit (app) last night and figured I’d dump my notes while it’s still fresh. This thing is floating around under the OrchardKit label, and on paper it’s pretty simple: a small utility that helps manage Dirt 3 assets, replays, stats, and some legacy fan-site data. Nothing scary. But macOS had other plans.
I’m on a MacBook Pro M1, macOS Ventura 13.6, clean system, no weird tweaks. The goal was modest: launch the toolkit, point it at my old Dirt 3 files, export a couple of replays. Instead, the app just… didn’t launch. Click, bounce once in the Dock, gone. No dialog, no crash reporter. Classic macOS shrug.
First thing I tried was the obvious, and also the wrong thing: I re-downloaded the app, verified the checksum, unzipped it again. Same behavior. I even moved it between /Applications and a random folder on the Desktop, because sometimes Gatekeeper behaves differently depending on location. Nope. Still vanished silently.
At that point my brain went “maybe it’s broken on Apple Silicon.” So I forced Rosetta. Get Info → Open using Rosetta. Relaunch. Same result. No window, no error, just a very fast disappearance. That’s when I stopped assuming “bad binary” and started assuming “macOS is blocking this without telling me.”
Apple actually documents this exact silent-failure pattern when Gatekeeper blocks unsigned or improperly notarized apps, especially ones that never request UI permissions. It’s buried, but it’s here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491
Once I re-read that, things clicked. The toolkit isn’t a modern sandboxed app. It pokes at local files, reads game data, and doesn’t politely ask first. Ventura really doesn’t like that.
What I should have done immediately (but didn’t) was try to open it via System Settings → Privacy & Security. After the failed launch, there it was at the bottom: a tiny notice saying the app was blocked from opening because it couldn’t be verified. No popup, no alert. Just that line.
I allowed it, tried again, and got a different failure. This time it stayed open for maybe two seconds longer, then quit. Progress, I guess.
Second realization: even after Gatekeeper approval, the app still didn’t have file access. It was trying to scan directories under ~/Documents and a legacy Steam folder. macOS treats that as sensitive now. Apple’s explanation of file access permissions is clearer here:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-files-and-folders-mchld5a35146/mac
So I manually added the app to Files and Folders permissions, specifically allowing Documents and Desktop. Relaunched again.
That was the moment it finally worked. Window appeared, menus responded, and it stopped dying silently. It immediately asked me to locate the Dirt 3 directory, scanned the files, and loaded the data exactly as advertised. No performance issues, no weird glitches. Just… fine.
For reference, Dirt 3 itself is still officially documented on Steam (even though it’s delisted for purchase), which helped confirm paths and file structure: https://store.steampowered.com/app/321040/DiRT_3_Complete_Edition/
And yeah, I found this page useful while double-checking macOS-specific behavior and permission quirks — mostly as a sanity check that I wasn’t missing something obvious: https://rvfcb.com/game/73806-dirt-3-fansite-toolkit.html
What I learned the hard way is that tools like this don’t fail loudly anymore. Older macOS versions would throw an angry dialog. Ventura just quietly refuses and waits for you to notice. If you assume “app is broken” too early, you waste time.
So, short future checklist for myself (and you, if you ever touch this thing):
- First launch fails silently → immediately check Privacy & Security.
- Explicitly allow the app if Gatekeeper blocked it.
- Go straight to Files and Folders permissions and grant access manually.
- Don’t bother with Rosetta unless you actually see architecture errors.
- Only after all that, start blaming the app.
Once past the macOS paranoia layer, the toolkit does what it says. It’s not flashy, but it’s stable, and it handled my old Dirt 3 data without corrupting anything. The frustrating part wasn’t the software — it was the OS doing that modern macOS thing where it protects you by not explaining itself.
Anyway, that’s the whole story. If you ever see an app “not launching” with zero feedback, assume Gatekeeper first and save yourself an hour.