[Avenir]

I have the most intriguing file problem on my hands right now, and could use some suggestions.

It all started with PlotMaker crashing. On restart, I had to delete the PlotMaker pref file (the file in question) to keep the PowerMac from crashing (screen goes dark black, error message in 5 languages comes up) whenever it was opened (OS 10.2, G4 867). PlotMaker now opens fine, so I tried to erase the bad preferences file.

Machine crashes.

Restart the machine, and the dock is all screwed up, has the original files in it (itunes, sherlock, quicktime) and everything I had is gone. And the prefs file is back on the desktop.

Nothing I do seems to be able to get rid of this file. I can move it around fine, but if its accessed in any way, it kills the machine. Here's what I've tried:

Regular empty trash.
Log in as root, empty trash
Login to machine across network, empty trash
Move other file to desktop to overwrite

All of that crashes it. I haven't gotten to runing Norton yet, I don't have a bootable CD copy, and no firewire to target it. The best part is that copying the file yields a perfectly usable copy, that can be deleted and all, but that original copy just won't die.

Any suggestions?

[edit] in retrospect, this might not belong in the MacOS X forum, but I don't know if "software" is any more appropriate. mods, feel free to move if need be.

[Eriamjh]

Have you tried starting in <gasp> OS9 and deleting it?

Seems you've tried everything else without luck.

I'd also run fsck before booting OSX (use cmd-s while booting) then run a permissions repair once booted.

You may want to back up critical data before trying anything else since you can get it to run but deleting the file crashes the machine.

Did you try removing PlotMaker completely restarting then deleting the file?

How does it crash? Lock up? Kernel panic? SBOD (Spinning beachball of death)? Does the system log reveal anything?

I wish you luck and let us know.

[Avenir]

Actually, as I typed my first post, I thought of booting into 9. I tried it immediately after posting, and it worked, the file seems to be gone (back in 10) and all is well, I think. The I come back , and see your reply. So, thank you for the suggestion, it worked