Mac OS X 10.4.8 (#11): Finder crashes, fixes; Closed-lid portable functions broken; more

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 12:13 a.m. PT

4 min read

Finder crashes when control-clicking (right-clicking) items, fix Some users have reported an issue where the Finder crashes when attempting to access contextual menu items by control-clicking (right-clicking) items.

In many cases, this issue is caused by the presence of contextual menu items that may have become problematic under Mac OS X 10.4.8.

Check the following folders:

~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/
/Library/Contextual Menu Items/

for recently added third-party items that could be causing the problem. Try temporarily removing all items, then logging out and back in (or restarting) and check for persistence of the freeze. If the problem is gone, add files back one-by-one to determine the culprit.

General Finder crashes -- re-apply combo updater If you are experiencing issues with general Finder crashes -- where the Finder displays an "Application not responding" message and the spinning pinwheel progress indicator is shown when hovering over the Desktop -- you may be able to resolve the issue by simply re-applying the Mac OS X 10.4.8 combo updater (PowerPC or Intel).

Launched inadvertently application sent to background -- fix MacFixIt reader Chris Cheng reports an issue where any application that is launched (via the Dock, double-clicking on an icon in the Finder, etc.) is automatically sent to the background. Generally, a just-launched application is put in the foreground as the active app.

Chris writes:

"I am on a MacBook Pro 1.83Ghz with 1.5 GB of RAM running Mac OS X 10.4.8 and am having issues where when I open a program it immediately gets sent to the background, meaning that the Finder remains the active program. It?s really annoying to have to toggle through other open apps to get to the one I just opened.

"My Dock is also doing weird things -- I have it on auto-hide and magnification is on, it's not coming out of hiding and the magnification doesn't work. I've repaired disk permissions, restarted, shut down and nothing seems to be working."

In many cases, this issue can be resolved by deleting the file: com.apple.finder.plist from the following directory:

~/Library/Preferences

then restarting.

[note, this is the Library folder inside your home user folder]

Closed-lid portable functions broken under Mac OS X 10.4.8 It appears that Apple has made some changes to the way portable Macs operate with their lids closed under Mac OS X 10.4.8.

We previously noted an issue where Front Row output does not function properly when portable lids are closed. We've now received word that Sleepless -- a utility that prevents portables from sleeping with the lid closed -- is currently incompatible with Mac OS X 10.4.8. A post the company's Web site states:

"Lid-closed operation on Mac OS X 10.4.8 (Intel) is broken. We are trying now to understand the problem and find a solution."

As such, it is recommended that you disable any sleep prevention utilities, and do not invoke closed lid operation (to obviate potential heat issues), if you are running Mac OS X 10.4.8.

Windows sharing issues Some users have reported issues with accessing Macs from Windows systems via Windows Sharing after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.8.

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

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