after installing iTunes 4.9 (almost) none of my apps load

T

talcott

Registered
That is basically it. I installed iTunes 4.9 on my 12" Powerbook running 10.4 (Tiger) when it alerted me to the availability of the new iTunes download. After executing the required reboot, the only application besides Finder that will run now is Yahoo Messager. Nothing works. I can not even get Terminal.app or Preferences or Activity Monitor. The icons just bounce on the dock and then settle down or disappear but nothing happens. No little black triangle. No new windows. I tried to ssh in but it does not seem to let me in. I am pretty sure I opened it up for SSH.

I inserted the 10.4 install CD and I could not even launch the Installer. The mac does not seem to want to boot from the installation DVD so I really do not know where to go from here. I am new to Mac as of January but I am very experienced with Unix and Windows. This is sort of breaking my heart because I fell in love with Mac. Please somebody help me. :eek:
 
No don't feel like a noob. Something like that happen to almost everone at least once in the computing life.

One thing you might want to try in OS X is something I like to call preventive maintenance. OS X is based on BSD Unix so some Unix scripts that clear,consolidate automatic Unix logs (look at the logs in /Applications/Utilities/Console/). These scripts have an automatic archiver called CRON that runs late at night when Mac users usually Sleep or turn off their Macs. So a lot of enterprising Mac users made a whole collection on Applications that will run those scripts. I personnaly like small, one trick freeware programs. So use a program called MacJanitor. However, there are a lot more freeware programs that will do the same thing and a lot more.


The second thing is already provided by OS X, it is Disk Utility. Using Disk Utility to Repair Permission (on you startup drive) once every two weeks or after every major software install (including Apple) will help keep programs on the straight and narrow to play well with OS X. I say this because of the Unix thing again. Unix loves it permissions and OS X is based on BSD. When traditional software makers for Mac make software, they tend to think their program is the king on all your programs. So the installer will screw with the Unix permissions in OS X. Disk Utility will straighten those permissions back to way they are suppose to be.

Doing these two things, Repairing Permissions and running the CRON scripts on a regular basis will keep OS X on the straight and narrow.
 
I'm a complete Mac n00b (about 4 months now) so this may be very dumb,,,,,,but will these scripts run when the Mac is sleeping?


##edit## nevermind I just found the answer.....no they won't run. ::alien::
 
If you are the adventurous type, open terminal
(in the Applications/Utilities folder) and you can
run the cron scripts manually.

The commands:
sudo periodic daily
sudo periodic weekly
sudo periodic monthly

Run each command separately and
when prompted for your password,
type it in and hit enter...
 
Verrrry Interrresting !
I used UNIX a little on a Sun Sparstation at college in the early nineties but have since forgotten it completely.
If I remember it takes learning a lot of commands.
I'm sure there is a wealth of info on the Sun and Apple sites which I shall investigate but maybe there is some more commands that would be relevent here on this forum i.e. getting rid of unwanted files (I have a .DS_store file on my desktop that i can't trash!), back up commands and startup tips etc.
 
Normally, files preceded by a . are hidden files - have you used any applications that allow you to show hidden files?

.DS_store files contain information about window position, size and view options... icon, column, list etc... They also store OS X file comments.

You can delete them, but they'll just reappear - and every one of your folder windows will return to a default state. Meaning you'll have to repostion them all again to your liking.

Cocktail will allow you to show or hide hidden files - it will also allow you to remove .DS_store files.

Download it here: http://www.macosxcocktail.com/
 
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