Alias Issues!

[Tudeski]

I have a few alias on my desktop. When I click them to open, osx hesitates, and then a little screen comes up in the middle that says "resolving alias to ***".

Does anyone know what is going on with this? I'm unsure, but it seems that it happens pretty much anytime I try to open an alias on my desktop.

Thanks for the help

 

[Gregg2]

I think it might mean that it can't find the original, which should indicate that it's been deleted. Do a Get Info on one that refused to open its original. That will tell you where the original is, or perhaps that it's not found. (I'm not experimenting with my own aliases. I'll leave that to you!)

 

[Tudeski]

I think it might mean that it can't find the original, which should indicate that it's been deleted. Do a Get Info on one that refused to open its original. That will tell you where the original is, or perhaps that it's not found. (I'm not experimenting with my own aliases. I'll leave that to you!)

Thanks for the input. However, my original files never move, never. I have never removed them or even moved them to a different place.....

any suggestions?

I guess i could redo them and see if they continue to do this, but I'm wondering if this is a widespread issue?

 

[Gregg2]

Yes, try what I suggested, just for grins. What does it tell you?

What OS are you running? How many applications do this to your aliases? What are they?

No one can tell if it's widespread without some detail.

 

[Tudeski]

Yes, try what I suggested, just for grins. What does it tell you?

What OS are you running? How many applications do this to your aliases? What are they?

No one can tell if it's widespread without some detail.

It resolves the issue, so it eventually opens the file. But it's like it's searching for the file. I did check them. I'm running the latest and greatest release of SL. I'm just running safari right now.

They are simply files on my desktop, that are alias for other files in my admin account on the hard drive.

any suggestions?

 

[Gregg2]

No suggestions. We're still at square one. No one is going to be able to help you identify the culprit until you identify the files doing this. Just "some files on the Desktop" doesn't help at all. What files? That is, files from what applications? All from the same application? (That would be a major clue!) From several different applications? (That would lead suspicion in a totally different direction!) And you still haven't revealed what Get Info tells you about the location of the original. If that's correct, that's a clue. If it's not, that's a bigger clue. Right now, I don't have any clues.

 

[Tudeski]

No suggestions. We're still at square one. No one is going to be able to help you identify the culprit until you identify the files doing this. Just "some files on the Desktop" doesn't help at all. What files? That is, files from what applications? All from the same application? (That would be a major clue!) From several different applications? (That would lead suspicion in a totally different direction!) And you still haven't revealed what Get Info tells you about the location of the original. If that's correct, that's a clue. If it's not, that's a bigger clue. Right now, I don't have any clues.

Sorry guys. I'm going to try to catch it in the act and post a screen shot. give me a little while, as the window pops up for 3 seconds and is gone. it resolves itself, but i still wonder why it has to resolve...

screen shot coming....

 

[Gregg2]

Ok, sounds good. And, when you post the screen shot, could you answer the question I've now asked twice? 3rd time: Which applications do this? It might be a problem with a specific application. It might be the OS. Clues still needed.

 

[Tudeski]

Ok, sounds good. And, when you post the screen shot, could you answer the question I've now asked twice? 3rd time: Which applications do this? It might be a problem with a specific application. It might be the OS. Clues still needed.

Not an application. It is a file folder alias, that hasn't been moved or deleted or replicated for months.

 

[Gregg2]

Ok. Your repeated references to "file" rather than "folder" were misleading.

I guess i could redo them and see if they continue to do this,

Yes, you could. In fact, that would be the first thing to try. Have you?

If that fails, or if the same problem (with folder aliases) happens again, the main suspects are Finder and Desktop preferences. I can narrow it down to those if there are no Applications involved. But, they are suspects, not culprits; innocent until proven guilty.

com.apple.desktop.plist and com.apple.finder.plist
Both files can be found in Users/YourHomeFolder/Library/Preferences
Do this (one at a time if you want to know which one was corrupt - I suppose it could be both at fault as well.):
Drag file to the Desktop
Restart the computer
The file on the Desktop now has a "twin" back in the Preferences folder
Is the problem fixed? (You might have to redo that alias again, just to be sure.)
If not, put the file on the Desktop back. Yes, you can overwrite the other one. You now know how to get a new one anyway...
Try the other file.

How'd it go?

 

[Tudeski]

Tried moving both of the files, one at a time. Didn't work for me, although it did reset my desktop - which your right, once you put it back in, everything goes back to normal.

I did however catch a screenshot of the issue. I'm unsure what is happening here, maybe i just didn't set up the alias correctly?

also, i did recreate all of my alias folders on my desktop, and they still continue to show up on this screen.... did I do something wrong when creating them?