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7Macfreak · Jul 17, 2003, 01:14 AM

ok i posted about this before, but the problem hasn't been solved entirely.

some applications will launch only when i go to the applications folder and double click on them. for example. text edit won't open when double click a text file sitting on my desktop. even system preferences wont open when i use the apple menu. but it does work when i manually go to the applications folder and click on system prefs.

anyone know what's going on, or how to fix this?
repairing permissions did not help.

DaGuy · Jul 17, 2003, 01:39 AM

I had something like what you described a while ago and it was a permission problem.
The Disk Utility app repairs these.

But, I got the feeling you may have already tried that. If so, then I would clean up the preference folder.

7Macfreak · Jul 17, 2003, 02:06 AM

Originally posted by DaGuy:
I had something like what you described a while ago and it was a permission problem.
The Disk Utility app repairs these.

But, I got the feeling you may have already tried that. If so, then I would clean up the preference folder.

repair permissions didnt help
the system library prefs, or user library prefs?

Sven G · Jul 17, 2003, 08:08 AM

Maybe an "Open With..." problem...? Try to see what the contextual menu gives you while control/right-clicking on your document(s)...

cacarr1 · Jul 17, 2003, 08:25 AM

Originally posted by 7Macfreak:
repair permissions didnt help
the system library prefs, or user library prefs?

Just curious...have you installed Panther on another partition?

Highlight item you want to open...
Get info for that item...
change the default application in the Get Info window...

DaGuy · Jul 17, 2003, 08:37 AM

Here's an idea. Create a brand new user and see if similar problems exist. If they don't then there's something corrupted in your user folder and the problem is nasty but nevertheless contained. If the issue is still exist then you may want to begin backing up some key non system files and thinking about a reinstall -something got jacked pretty bad.

When I had the problem, I was fiddling around with a bunch of shareware that did simple unix things like changing permissions, throwing locked trash bin etc. My lesson learned was to quit being lazy and actually use the Unix command line, a lot of these shareware utilities are not very sharp and can easily do something unexpected to your system settings.

Good luck,

suthercd · Jul 17, 2003, 09:24 AM

99.9% chance is there is a Preferences problem it will be in the folder located in your home folder, not the /Library/Preferences folder.

Your description make this sounds like some part of the basic X intsallation has been deleted or corrupted. It has been a while, thank goodness, since I have experienced something like this and when I did I found I had screwed things up royally while poking and experimenting and had deleted part of the /var folder. I re-installed to fix this. You can probably still save your apps and to another drive or partition. Hope it is not this serious.

Craig

JKT · Jul 17, 2003, 09:54 AM

Another thing to try is clearing your cache files (download the freeware Cocktail app to do this the easy way). These seem to be the files most prone to causing problems in OS X.

7Macfreak · Jul 17, 2003, 01:03 PM

thanks for the replies.
deleting the system/user cache didnt help.

and i DO have panther installed on another partition. is that the cause somehow? i kinda doubt it.

ok here's what i did when i recently re/installed the two cats.
erased the disk completely, installed panther, then installed jaguar, and then i dragged my user folder that i had backed up prior to installation into the user directory. with preferences/applications and all. is that somehow causing a preferences conflict somewhere?
the thing is.. all apps that are in my home directory, open just fine. its only the ones in the system APPLICATIONS folder that are messing up. also at one point i noticed two preview apps in the recent items menu. clicking on one would work fine, while the other one would launch, but quit abruptly.

7Macfreak · Jul 17, 2003, 01:09 PM

Originally posted by cacarr1:
Just curious...have you installed Panther on another partition?

Highlight item you want to open...
Get info for that item...
change the default application in the Get Info window...

i guess this has caused the problem
the default application is been changed to that in the panther applications folder. so its been trying to open using the wrong version of the apps! i changed the 'open with' app and it seems to work fine now.
but then what about my system preferences? how do i get that to open from the apple menu?

step · Jul 17, 2003, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by 7Macfreak:
thanks for the replies.
deleting the system/user cache didnt help.

and i DO have panther installed on another partition. is that the cause somehow? i kinda doubt it.

panther apps won't run in jag, sounds like they're launching in preference to their jag equivalents

KidRed · Jul 17, 2003, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by 7Macfreak:
thanks for the replies.
deleting the system/user cache didnt help.

and i DO have panther installed on another partition. is that the cause somehow? i kinda doubt it.

It is the cause. The system will launch the newest version, and Panther installs the newest version. You'll have to fix with 'open with' and apply to all similar files.

7Macfreak · Jul 17, 2003, 02:51 PM

got it!
thanks!