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Question

Error with fresh OSX 10.5 install

Feb 29, 2016 9:38AM PST

Hi everyone, on a Mac G5 2Hz, I reformatted a 160 GB drive and made a clean install of OSX 10.5, then updated to OSX 10.5.8 - the menu items for system prefs and time machine are invisible, I just see white rectangles. After repairing with disk utility the disk permissions, removing files like com.apple.finder.plist com.apple.systempreferences.plist etc, rebooting into safe mode and repairing from the original DVD, the result is always the same. Does anyone have a clue where the error is ? Have installed now 5 times and get the same error. Thanks a lot.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
If this is the only problem you have with this machine,
Feb 29, 2016 3:45PM PST

I would count yourself lucky and move on.

Two missing items in the menu bar, two items which are accessible from elsewhere, is not exactly a major hiccup.

What is the rest of the video functionality like, you didn't mention that

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Answer
Reaching back into old neurons here.
Feb 29, 2016 9:51AM PST
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Clarification
Mar 1, 2016 7:43AM PST

@mrmacfixit : thanks for your reply. System Preferences controls the whole machine. I cant change anything without it. I can live without timemachine, but the terminal does not work either.
For me this makes the Mac unusable. Video works fine, RAM, HD, ethernet is just fine. Since I need it as midi sequencer, this problem is crucial. Display resolution, sound etc need to be changed.
@ R Proffit : ATI RAdeon 9600 Pro and ATI VGA are installed.
Have checked the font folders : the user/Font folder contains 74 fonts, the System/../Font 34 Fonts.
If specific fonts were missing, I suppose that no menus would be displayed - they all use the same font. But the problem concerns certain programs. Thank you again

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So it's not a stock issued machine.
Mar 1, 2016 7:49AM PST

Not one model I saw had dual video cards like that. I'd take the straight and narrow path about machine configuration. Yes you might get some client that gripes it worked for years but we are talking very old gear and today, well, there's not a lot of folk that remember what to do with modifying this one and getting it all tuned in.

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Problem solved : hardware was responsible
Mar 2, 2016 2:47AM PST

@Proffitt : you were absolutely right. Cool After removing the additional ATI Radeon PN 109-85500-0 the machine now works flawlessly. It was a hardware graphic error of the display. Thank you all for your feedback and help ! Kind greetings from an again happy Mac user

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Thanks for the report.
Mar 2, 2016 7:11AM PST

Good to read that it's working out now.

I do recall more about those setups but not all that one would need to fix it. It is rather arcane knowledge that someone may recall and your fix is working so we pack up and move forward.

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Not pushing the point here but,
Mar 1, 2016 4:09PM PST

System Preferences are accessible from a number of places besides the menubar.
The Dock & Applications Folder are two places it can be found.

Now sure that the dual video cards would have an effect on Terminal, it being lower down the chain and not really a video hog.
Google showed one person being helped by installing a standalone copy of Terminal, from a 10.5.8 user. Do you have a Mac user group near you?

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Mac user group
Mar 2, 2016 2:49AM PST

@mrmacfixit : yes we have Mac and Linux user groups too. But now I am busy installing the rest of programs I need for making some music. Thanks a lot.