iMac Lost Preferences

Started by AaronH, July 12, 2019, 10:26:57 AM

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AaronH

Hey guys,

I have a strange one, and am wondering if anyone else has run into this. I got into work today and my iMac has forgotten which program opens what. PDFs now open with Preview, had them set to Acrobat DC as well as all of my connections to SMB drives were lost. There were no warning windows or popups from the OS at all. My desktop picture is the same - the blue/green cloud burst thing from Apple.

I'm running Sierra if that helps.
Mac & Windows | XMF | Fiery | Oris

AaronH

Acrobat doesn't even show up in the list of App defaults in the Get Info window. I selected it manually and checked always open up with Acrobat.
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David

download a copy of Onyx and run it to repair your permissions

Pick your OS from the list:

https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
Prepress guy - Retired - Working from home
Livin' la Vida Loca

Joe

Sounds like your LaunchServices were lost/corrupted.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

AaronH

Alright. I'll run onyx. Would that fix the Launch Services issue?
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David

QuoteOnce you launch OnyX, you'll find LaunchServices listed in Maintenance > Rebuild. Just check the LaunchServices box and press Execute to rebuild it.


or, read this for a terminal command:
https://www.techjunkie.com/rebuild-launchservices-fix-duplicate-entries-os-xs-open-menu/
Prepress guy - Retired - Working from home
Livin' la Vida Loca

AaronH

I had this happen again. This is like the 4th time now since my original post. Any idea what would cause this to happen? I'll keep running Onyx but it would be nice if it didn't happen to begin with.

Strange thing is that it happens when the computer screen is asleep, but the computer never logs off/sleeps itself without me telling it to. I have to keep the computer on to run an online backup of our files continually.

Really weird thing is that acrobat files have different icons in different windows or apps. in the same finder window, with various folders, I have one acrobat icon and two AI icons on PDFs. Then in Outlook it shows the preview app icon for PDFs.
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Joe

Try resetting the PRAM.

You can reset or "zap" the PRAM on a Mac by pressing and holding the Command, Option, P, and R keys right as you turn the computer on. Yes, there are four keys you need to hold down at the same time. Once you hear the startup chime a second time, the PRAM has been reset and you can release the keys.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

AaronH

I reset the PRAM - I think. I didn't hear any chimes at all, the iMac came up from a full shutdown and went to the login screen. It's acting really weird now. Apps take forever to open up, specifically XMF Client. I had to force close XMF Client 3 times before it would actually start the program. Then once it did open, the window wasn't selectable, couldn't minimize or movie it around the desktop. Same with Safari so I could come post this.

Has this happened before to you Joe?
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Joe

No and if you didn't hear any chimes it didn't do it. Of course if you had your sound muted you would not hear the first chime but you would hear the second one as resetting the PRAM resets a bunch of settings including sound settings.

The way I do it is make sure the sound is not muted. Power off the Mac. Start it and once you hear the first chime immediately hold down OPTION+COMMAND+P+R. Then I make sure to hold it down until I hear two more chimes. Then start normally after the 2nd one.

You may get messages after that when launching some applications for the first time but I've never seen things act the way you describe them.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

AaronH

Ah ok no I didn't do it right then. I held down the buttons immediately after hitting the power button to turn it on.

I'll reset the PRAM in the morning.
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AaronH

My computer doesn't chime on startup anymore. I can't figure out why not. I have my volume up to almost max just to hear the chime and nothing.

How do I reset PRAM if I can't hear the chime?
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DigiCorn

"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

AaronH

Oh I hope not. I just got this comp a year, year and a half ago.
Mac & Windows | XMF | Fiery | Oris

AaronH

I'm still under AppleCare so that's good. Would I be able to fix whatever issue I have if I reformat my comp, and only grab documents from my time machine?
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