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Mac OS X 10.3.8 Special Report: Displays pane of System Preferences not working

Mac OS X 10.3.8 Special Report: Displays pane of System Preferences not working

CNET staff
2 min read

A handful of MacFixIt readers reported that they are unable to access the "Displays" pane of System Preferences after updating to Mac OS X 10.3.8.

One reader writes:

"After having used 'Software Update' to install Mac OS X 10.3.8, I can no longer start/load 'Displays' in System Preferences."

This problem is sometimes directly related to the presence of certain ATI graphics card drivers, which may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeon9700.kext
  • /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeon9700DVDDriver.bundle
  • /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeon9700GA.plugin
  • /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeon9700GLDriver.bundle

Users have reported that deleting these files and using an alternate graphics card from another manufacturer (such as NVidia) re-allowed access to the Displays pane of System Preferences. Note that deleting these files will render your ATI Radeon card unusable at the next restart.

Clearing font caches for faster startup For users experiencing slow startup times after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.8, font-related corruption may be to blame.

Using the shareware utility Font Finagler to delete font caches will often restore normal startup speeds if indeed the bloated or corrupt files are to blame.

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