[laseca]

I installed Panther 10.3.4 over 10.2.8 and once the installation was complete (an archive and install), I see my desktop image with the menus appearing followed by the dock and time in the upper right corner. Then everything clears (except the desktop image) and appears in the same order in an infinite loop. I've reinstalled the OS several times with the same result. If I crank up the System Preferences pane, it disappears with everything else before I can choose anything. Cranking up an application makes it quit. I've emptied practically everything from my startup folder and nothing new. My next option is to backup, clear the drive and reinstall everything.

What could be causing the Finder to reload itself constantly?

Vytas

[Chuckit]

Have you tried a clean user?

[chris v]

I would try trashing some prefs first, like the systemuiserver.plist from your user prefs, and the loginwindow.plist that lives in the /Library/Preferences folder.

[laseca]

Neither suggestion works. It's stuck in an infinite loop. I can't create a new account since the Preference Pane closes up before I can even click on the Accounts pane. This is the most bizarre behavior I've ever seen. I can try to do another Archive & Install but I'm afraid it won't do any good. I may just do a clean install.

I'm using a G4 Tower DP500.

[badidea]

Damn, I hate it when I have seen a problem before but can't remember how I fixed it!

Do you maybe have something installed that isn't Panther ready?
What happens if you start your Mac with the shift key pushed?

[Boondoggle]

what about booting from the CD?

Have you tried repairing permissions and fsck -y?

[Boondoggle]

Originally posted by laseca:
I
What could be causing the Finder to reload itself constantly?

Vytas

sorry that last post was a little terse...

The Finder is quitting/crashing for some reason. It is normal for it to relaunch under those circumstances. Most likely it is trying to access a corrupted file or a file with the wrong permissions, or the Finder itself is corrupted or it's permissions are wrong.

If you have more than one volume on the system the permissions for that might be zonky, or it could be something else...

I would first boot in single user mode and do a fsck -y. Then reboot and try to repair permissions.

This assumes you can boot from another volume such as a CD or another drive without seeing this problem. If you can't do that, then you've most likely got a hardware problem.

bd

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by laseca:
I can't create a new account since the Preference Pane closes up before I can even click on the Accounts pane.

Boot into Single User Mode (hold apple-S while starting up the machine). From the prompt there, type

Code:
cd /var/db

Then type

Code:
rm .AppleSetupDone

Then restart.

This will cause your machine not to realize that it's already been set up, and it will ask you to create a new administrator just as if you'd done a fresh install. Your old user will still be there, but this will give you a clean account to see if your user preferences need trashing.

EDIT: Just for clarity, you're supposed to hit the return key after each of the above commands.

[chris v]

Chuckit, That's handy!

[laseca]

Guys, thanks for all your help. I think I got a lot closer to solving my problem. I booted off the CD and repaired my permissions and checked the drive. Upon reboot, I still had the Finder reloading itself. If I keep opening a few windows (this type my user window) it stayed open allowing me to move files and folders around. I moved my Preferences folder from my user Library folder and restarted. I'm up and running! All I have to do is copy back my preference files that affect my programs a few at a time and I should be fine.

Again, thanks to everyone here for your help and suggestions. This is what makes MacNN forums so great!

Vytas