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poohbear666

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 26, 2011
14
0
Some months ago, I somehow deleted the factory profile for my iMac display.

I am now unable to calibrate the display - when I try, I get a dialogue box:

Cannot Calibrate the Display
The factory profile for the display could not be found.

I have searched around on the web - this seems to be a recurring problem. I have tried a number of the more obvious fixes:

- Repaired permissions
- Searched for (and found) display profiles elsewhere on the system, and moved them to the profiles folder(s)
- reset PRAM
- restarted iMac
- had a look at PlistEdit Pro; I think this could fix it by pointing the preferences at a display profile, however, it looks like it could really mess up the system software very easily, so I haven't yet used it.
- checked OS installation CDs/DVDs but can't locate a suitable looking profile.

Any suggestions?

It isn't a major problem - I have a number of save profiles I can choose - but, as I do a lot of photography, I like to recalibrate the display 2-3 times a year, in case the display (or my eyes) have 'aged'.

Any really clever fixes (like PlistEdit Pro) and I'll need detailed instrustions ....

Not sure just sending me a factory profile would work (but it might) - it seems that once the link from ColorSync to a factory profile is broken, it can't easily be reset?

I guess re-installing Lion would fix it but that is going to be a hassle ....?

Thanks,

Larry

20" iMac Early 2008, Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 (11C74)
 
You won't need to send it to Apple.

either you or some app deleted the file/changed permissions or your HDD/SDD is losing bits and corrupting the file

Which app do you use to calibrate your display?

right click, get info, and find the file on the hdd, and click "show folder contents" and you should find the file in that app bundle, or in the same folder. if that dosen't work, see if you can get an app to show all opened files and their paths, that should lead you in the right direction.

also google is your friend.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/279629?start=0&tstart=0

It seems the file is in this folder.

Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays

the names may have changed slightly, as that thread is a few years old. but it's still the same OS and file layout as ALL Mac OS X versions.

try this bottom solution first, btw.
 
Last edited:
... I have no intention of sending the iMac to Apple!

And don't believe I indicated I was considering so doing :)

Oddly enough, to calibrate the display, I use System Preferences -> Displays -> Color -> Calibrate

Which responds with:

Cannot Calibrate the Display
The factory profile for the display could not be found


I don't have any problem finding display color profiles - I have plenty of display color profiles. And they are in the right place - they are listed in System Preferences -> Displays -> Color

The problem is that System Preferences and Color Sync -> Devices simply won't accept that any are the Factory Profile for the display. And without the factory profile, System Preferences refuses to run the calibration routine.
 
... I have no intention of sending the iMac to Apple!

And don't believe I indicated I was considering so doing :)

Oddly enough, to calibrate the display, I use System Preferences -> Displays -> Color -> Calibrate

Which responds with:

Cannot Calibrate the Display
The factory profile for the display could not be found


I don't have any problem finding display color profiles - I have plenty of display color profiles. And they are in the right place - they are listed in System Preferences -> Displays -> Color

The problem is that System Preferences and Color Sync -> Devices simply won't accept that any are the Factory Profile for the display. And without the factory profile, System Preferences refuses to run the calibration routine.

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought Color Profiles were used to calibrate the display. Like, device specific color profiles.
 
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