Finder Relaunches Every 2 Seconds!!

S

sadstoryitis

Registered
I have a serious but simple problem here.

My computer is fine. But the only error is that my finder relaunches itself every 2 seconds and i cannot use the finder to search for things, so i am left stuck with my dock appilcations... CAN YOU GUYS HELP ME WITH THE RELAUNCHING thing so Finder will go back to its normal state?

seth. PS i use a iBook G4.. Panther 1.3.4
 
Boot from your OS X install CD, and when the installer asks you to pick a language, go up to the menubar and select "Open Disk Utility" from the Installer menu. In Disk Utility, click on your hard drive and select "Repair Disk"... note: NOT "Repair Permissions" but "Repair Disk". If, after running a repair, problems are still reported, run it again.

It sounds like it may be time for a backup, reformat and reinstall, though.
 
u saying that i gotta make a backup for the whole files then reformat or what?


but remmy that the only plm is that the finder relaunches and i cannot acess the files.. i don t think that i need to reformat?
 
Yeah, backing up and reinstalling should be a last resort -- however, if my Finder was repeatedly crashing, I would reinstall, since even after fixing that I would be wary of it crashing again... but that's just me. I try to keep a damn stable system, so if that happened to me, I would consider that grounds to reinstall -- but not a lot of other people would.

I would boot from the install CD and run the Repair Disk as described above. If that fixes it, after that I would boot and log in as normal, then open up Disk Utility (from the hard drive this time, not the CD) and run a repair permissions, whose buttons should be on the opposite side of the window from the repair disk button.
 
but how can i boot with my disk bec i cannot see any icons or acess the disks with the finder? and i am sure that there is a "boot" key during restart that stops everything but focuses on the boot disk?

seth
 
Ah... pop in the CD, restart, then immediately hold down the 'C' button. Keep it held down until your machine begins to boot from the CD. You can't hold the key down too long, so if you're unsure, keep it held down until you reach the installer screen.
 
If you have access to a copy of DiskWarrior by Alsoft, it can identify some problems that disk utility passes on.

I would agree with el cacado and urge a backup, only it's probably hard without a finder to access and save files. You could set the iBook up as a firewire target disk if you have access to another Mac, and copy your data that way. (Turn it off, plug in the cables and then hold down "t" while starting up to enter Target Disk Mode. The iBook should show on the other Mac as an external disk (i.e. either on the desktop or in the finder window depending on the settings of the other computer).
 
Oh, and you could try the new user method before all hope fades.

Open System Preferences (if you can in the two seconds before finder crashes ;)) and create a new user. Restart and log in as that user and see how it goes.
 
well i can acess the "menu" only with other appilcations but not with finder and i have tried the new user method but the finder still relaunches every sec... i do have disk warrior but how can i get acess to it?

:(
 
i wouldnt mind to try that method BUT i cannot just access the files thru finder so how can i delete the files? but let u know that the files are still intact, as in that i used safari to see if that the files is still intact, and yes they are so everyhting is fine but just finder itself relaunches every like 2 sec...

seth
 
from the terminal:

sudo rm -r "/com.apple.finder.plist"

If you can open the Terminal
 
well terminal is still intact but is there any way to open it instead of using finder, like safari or whatever? or somthing that would trigger terminal to open?



seth
 
Try FSCK;

To run fsck, you first need to start up your Mac in single-user mode. Here's how:

1. Restart your Mac.

2. Immediately press and hold the Command and "S" keys.

You'll see a bunch of text begin scrolling on your screen. In a few more seconds, you'll see the Unix command line prompt (#).

You're now in single-user mode.

Now that you're at the # prompt, here's how to run fsck:

1. Type: "fsck -f" (that's fsck-space-minus-f).


2. Press Return.

The fsck utility will blast some text onto your screen. If there's damage to your disk, you'll see a message that says:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

If you see this message--and this is extremely important-- repeat running fsck. It is normal to have to run fsck more than once -- the first run's repairs often uncover additional problems..

When fsck finally reports that no problems were found, and the # prompt reappears:

3. Type: "reboot" to restart,

or type "exit" to start up without rebooting.

4. Press Return.
 
hey,

i ran the fsck -f on the single user mode, but the result was "the disk seti appears to be ok"

so SHOULD i run it more times or theres a other method to this? and u told me abt the finder (post 13 or 12...) thru terminal? can i do this thru the single user method?

seth
 
If it appears ok, no need to run it again.

Not sure if you can trash the preferences from Single User Mode. Someone else will come along that may know.

Try stating in Sfae Mode . Restart, and as soon as you hear the startup chime, hold the Shift Key down, can take a bit longer.
 
Do you have another user account or root enabled. If so, when you get to the log in screen, if you have that on, startup in a different account.

Alwasy a good idea to have at least another user setup and a log in screen.
 
yea i can make another account, so u are saying that i should create a new one and log in using that account? if so, i have tried that before, the finder still came in and went out frequentely..what do u think that if everything else dosent work, should i go to a apple store? for them to fix this plm or what? what do u think?

and the safe mode am i supposed to press the shift button until i login in or what because i did it and it said safe boot on the macosx window, not login window but after that it seemed to not be in the safe mode...

seth
 
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