Finder Window Disappears, Finder Restarts?

[Hack-intosh]

Hello. I am running Panther 10.3.4. When I single-click on a file's icon to select/highlight in column view, the Finder window disappears and the Finder restarts (every time). I am unable to Get Info even when right-clicking. The attempt to Get Info causes the Finder to restart as well. I can single-click on the icons in Icon or List views but cannot Get Info either. It is some kind of Finder Info problem or something it seems as the Finder crashes when trying to display file info. I had recently run a program called Panther Cache Cleaner (had run this a few times before) which was to fix permissions, prebinding, and run the cron scripts. Somehow, between running this program and the 10.3.4 update, the machine has aquired this Finder problem admidst a few kernel panics, etc. I have tried to reinstall Panther while retaining my user setting a few different times with the Finder yielding the same corrupted results. Any suggestions other than a clean install? I have browsed some of the other forums and it seems you folks know all the tricks! I would appreciate any help you may provide. Thanks, Hack...

 

[Makosuke]

As you surmised, showing info on a file in the Finder (whether in the pane or in the pop-up window) causes the Finder to crash (then automatically restart).

If you've already gone through the reinstall/clean cache/run periodic scripts, I can only think of two things that could be causing the issue.

An easy test to confirm that it's a user-level problem, by the way: create a new user on your system, log in as that user, and try getting info. If it works, it's something in your user settings that's the problem. If not, it's a system-wide issue (maybe some weird bug between the Finder and the particular hardware you've got).

1) Most likely, a corrupt preference file; cleaning caches doesn't help with these, and preserving your user settings would preserve the file. Try deleting anything in ~/Library/Preferences/ (in your home folder, that is) that seems related (almost certainly starting with com.apple...; start with com.apple.finder.plist). Log out and back in. Hopefully that'll do it.

2) Could be a 3rd party extension you've installed (and maybe forgotten you installed?); think back if there's any add-on you ever installed, and make sure it's completely gone if there is anything.

Good luck.

 

[Sun Baked]

Run fsck after booting into Single User Mode. (run until it comes through with a clean pass)

Run Disk Utilities, and repair until clean pass.

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You may have trashed something in the file system/catalog.

 

[Hack-intosh]

Appreciate the reply and all of your suggestions; howver, I have tried all of these. Yes, it must be system-wide as I have tried setting up another account with the same results. Also trashed the Finder Prefs, etc. to no avail. As for 3rd party exts, nothing new has been installed. The trouble resulted from running the Panther Cache Cleaner program. I have also tried to repair the persmissions, etc. with the same results. Can't figure out what the heck it did as I had run the program a few times before with no probs. Thanks for the reply. Still trying...(Also wrote the author of Panther Cache Cleaner - but got no reply at all)...

 

[Veldek]

Damn, I have the same crashes since I installed 10.3.4. It only happens on some pictures yet and only if preview is enabled. This could be a problem with the update, couldn’t it?

 

[Makosuke]

It only happens on some pictures yet and only if preview is enabled. This could be a problem with the update, couldn’t it?

That sounds a lot more like corrupt images to me. Perhaps 10.3.4 is less tolerant of them than a previous version?

As for the original question, since it's system wide and the usual things (including disk checks and permissions repair) don't fix it, a reinstall is about the only option remaining. I can't imagine how a gitch would persist through a reinstall unless it's related to a 3rd party change or if it's directly related to some problem with your hardware.

 

[Hack-intosh]

I also ran fsck and received an OK on the first pass. As for the corrupt images, this crash happens on ANY file not just pics. It would be more than a coincidence that every image was corrupt. As for third-party stuff, it all worked fine before using PCC & installng the 10.3.4 update. Evidently it is a third-party thing since the other installs didn't change things. A Full Install (not retaining user settings) will definitely do the trick - just not in the mood for all of the other app re-installing and re-tweaking, etc...Thanks, Hack...

 

[Makosuke]

As for the corrupt images, this crash happens on ANY file not just pics.

I understand that your problem is deeper than just a bad file or two; my comment was directed at Veldek, who describes a similar issue that likely is just bad images.

Too bad nothing seems to work for you, Hack-intosh. It's funny; the Cache Cleaner utilities seem to be invaluable when things are going badly wrong (PCC fixed my disasterously unstable iDVD at one point), but once in a while you hear a horror story like this one about it eating a system alive for no apparent reason. Shame, and I know the pain of a full reinstall--I've been tempted by problems more than once, but since I've been doing straight upgrades since 10.0 I'm loathe to piece everything back together now.

 

[Hack-intosh]

I appreciate all of your help. Thanks again.