Opening old .sit StuffIt archive fails: "Implementation required for this operation is missing"

[adville]

Hello -
I recently went to expand some old .sit StuffIt archives from the mid-90s through the early 2000s. I downloaded the latest version of StuffIt Expander, which claims to be able to expand any .sit archive.

However, with all of my archives, I get a message:
"Expansion failed
Implementation required for this operation is missing."

The archives aren't encrypted. I don't think it's a corruption issue, as all the .sit files I tried produce this result. I saw a question asked on Apple's discussion forums on 12/30/20 with 30+ people saying they have the same problem too, but no replies. I'm wondering if perhaps a recent Apple software update broke Stuffit Expander somehow...? Has anyone seen this, and does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[BrianBaughn]

Have your tried "The Unarchiver" app?

 

[retta283]

Stuffit Expander is still updated? If it isn't then it would not surprised me if it broke with a new update, Apple stopped caring about .sit 15+ years ago.

Try the Unarchiver or similar apps that are still up to date to expand them.

 

[chrfr]

Stuffit Expander is still updated?

‎StuffIt Expander 16

‎StuffIt Expander - Always Free! Uncompress Zip archives, access StuffIt files, decompress tar, gzip and bzip archives, and more. Just drag, drop, and you're done! From BinHex to Zip, StuffIt to MIME, Expander accesses more formats, in less time, with zero hassles. StuffIt Expander opens...

apps.apple.com

 

[RootBeerMan]

I'm having the same issue with a new .rar file and Stuffit. No solutions?

 

[chrfr]

I'm having the same issue with a new .rar file and Stuffit. No solutions?

For a rar file, use The Unarchiver.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I'm having the same issue with a new .rar file and Stuffit. No solutions?

Sometimes, the app "Keka" will succeed with a .rar file when "The Unarchiver" fails.

 

[adville]

Hi all -

Thanks for the replies.

First, yes, The Unarchiver worked like a charm. Thanks so much for the suggestion. (Now I need to figure out the best way to convert the WordPerfect for Mac files that were inside!)

Second, to those who questioned whether StuffIt Expander is still updated. At least in theory, yes. While I was looking around I saw several posts giving kudos to the current owner, Smith Micro, for keeping the expander updated even though the underlying product is obsolete. In fact, the version on the Mac App Store (which I used) said it had been updated a month ago with Big Sur and even M1 optimization with a universal binary! However, as my experience showed, it seems like there may be a recent bug that caused this error. (I'm on Mojave 10.14.6, as I'm limping along with my late-2013 15" MBP until a 15" Apple silicon MBP is released.)

Again, thanks all for the replies.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Open Office or Libreoffice claim to be able to open Wordperfect files

 

[RootBeerMan]

Sometimes, the app "Keka" will succeed with a .rar file when "The Unarchiver" fails.

Well, I downloaded Unarchiver (again, as I had deleted it ages ago, for being annoying), and it took care of it. Haven't needed to open another yet. I'll see how it goes in the future.

 

[ignatius345]

‎StuffIt Expander 16

‎StuffIt Expander - Always Free! Uncompress Zip archives, access StuffIt files, decompress tar, gzip and bzip archives, and more. Just drag, drop, and you're done! From BinHex to Zip, StuffIt to MIME, Expander accesses more formats, in less time, with zero hassles. StuffIt Expander opens...

apps.apple.com

Incredible! What a blast from the past. I remember carefully compressing any files I could to keep my 40MB hard drive happy. There was also something pretty dubious called "Norton Disk Doubler" which promised to compress things on the fly, if I recall.

 

[Scott Baret]

I remember Norton Disk Doubler but never used it. I remember using Stuffit way back when to move large files between Macs. I had a buddy with an 800K drive Mac SE. My daily driver was an LC. He couldn't read high density disks (though you could upgrade the SE). We swapped a lot of shareware back then and I'd archive stuff for him so it could fit on an 800K disk. This was back when Stuffit was shareware itself!

 

[eOe_GiaN]

Same happened to me. For our company we have some back-up HDD with things like clip-art libraries and font libraries. Some of those were created around the year 2002 when StuffIt was still a common way to compress folder structures. Stuffit was only used to save space, when the archives were moved to modern storage technology a decade later, nobody thought about the eventually to become obsolete compression. Now two decades later on modern macOS the Stuffit Expander 16.2 will not decompress those files anymore. I can confirm the files themselves are not corrupted.

Today I am sharing my at-work-solution to regain access to those .sit/.sitx compressed archives:

Requirements:

1. Vintage G3, G4, G5 Macintosh computer with MacOS X (my case MacOS Tiger [10.4] on an iMac G3)
2. A stable LAN network. (better wired to the old Mac than using WiFi)
3. One or more modern Macs. (MacBook with macOS Monterey [12.7] in my case)

The concept:

• Make the vintage Mac boot every working day and auto shut down when everyone goes home
• On the vintage Mac, have Stuffit Expander installed (Stuffit Std 9.0.1 in my case)
• On the vintage Mac setup Screen Sharing to allow sharing the screen for the Admin
• On the vintage Mac setup a Shared Folder with read and write access to everyone
• On the vintage Mac set Stuffit Expander that came with the Stuffit Std to watch this folder
• Also make Stuffit Expander launch automatically after startup on the vintage Mac
• On the modern Mac when encountering a .sit or .sitx file upload it via LAN to the Shared Folder
• Stuffit Expander will automatically begin expanding the archive within a minute*
• Hereafter you can download the decompressed data back to the modern Mac

Usefull Links:

• StuffIt Std 10.0.2 English – Mac OS 10.3 – 10.3.9 [Download] 9.3MB
• StuffIt Std 14.0.1 English – Mac OS 10.4 – 10.5.8 [Download] 44.3MB
• Explained: (*) StuffIt Expander Preferences - Setup the "Watch Folder" with 1 minute interval

​

 

[bogdanw]

Some of those were created around the year 2002 when StuffIt was still a common way to compress folder structures. Stuffit was only used to save space on the HDD. But now on modern macOS the Stuffit Expander 16.2 will not decompress those files anymore. I can confirm the files themselves are not corrupted.

Have you tried The Unarchiver? https://apps.apple.com/app/the-unarchiver/id425424353
BetterZip 5 can also open files created by StuffIt. https://betterzip.com/

 

[eOe_GiaN]

Have you tried The Unarchiver? https://apps.apple.com/app/the-unarchiver/id425424353
BetterZip 5 can also open files created by StuffIt. https://betterzip.com/

I have the Unarchiver indeed, but at work installing software from random sources is discouraged. That iMac running the obsolete OS was built 2001 and is also a print server for an old printer that otherwise has no driver. The screen is gradually fading away to a pale green since a few years now, so access via Screen Sharing was a key factor. All other hardware still works fine. So that's how I came up with that odd solution for using the old Stuffit Expander on a shared Folder since the machine is still there.

 

[MacGizmo]

...but at work installing software from random sources is discouraged...

That's why I hack my way into the OS and change the Root user password and set a firmware password and then not tell the IT guys what it is. 🤣 😎

 

[R2K2]

For .sit files with non-sensitive data (and running classic MacOS applications), I use the online MacOS 8 Emulator at http://macos8.app
It has Stuffit Expander 5.5 included and drag and drop support to exchange files.

 

[bogdanw]

I have the Unarchiver indeed, but at work installing software from random sources is discouraged.

The App Store is a "random source"? Your solution involves installing outdated apps from downloaded dmg files

 

[eOe_GiaN]

The App Store is a "random source"? Your solution involves installing outdated apps from downloaded dmg files

The DMG’s are indeed outdated, yet from the original source. I agree the Unarchiver.app will be a fine solution for most of us. Just wanted to share how having a vintage Mac performing tasks in the network is also an option. Furthermore I think for us meanwhile all .sit files we might need have been reprocessed.