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Finder wont launch please help

S

starstilllove

macrumors newbie
Original poster
OK.well this is what happened...i opened the finder window (back when i could) and scrolled over on HD X infinity..stupid i dont know why I did it ..i guess just to see how many times it would fold over. well I held down the arrow and it went hyperspeed.. made a loud buzzing noise then crashed. I shut off the computer and ever since then i cant open finder.desktop or any folders that i search for through spotlight. What i would like to do would be to save all my files .most importantly garageband files.pictures and video. itunes. Ive tried to use a usb and external hardrive but i cant properly insert the files into the drive. and my cd drive doesnt work so i cant insert the install disk. I do have another ibook g4 and ive been hunting for ways to remedy the situation. My goal is to get everything back to normal and save my files. Any suggestions:apple:😀
 
addition

ok ive been tryin to connect my ibook and macbook through a local network(to transfer the files). i can access the network on my ibook of course because i can go through my finder to get to the network and it has a drop box ..but. cant open the network folder on the macbook. how do i bypass the finder to get to my network
 
So, you can't open finder? And you want to get some files from your MacBook to your iBook? Are your menu bar and dock fully functioning? Can you open apps from spotlight? In that case you could use the terminal application. Just search terminal in spotlight select it and open. It's very technical. Be careful what you type into it. One wrong move and poof! Your HD is erased. You should also be careful what you type into it from someone's advice. Some people will purposely give you the wrong command and mess up your computer. Be careful when using the "sudo" command. It will permanently delete whatever file you choose. I'm not knowledgeable on terminal, but perhaps somebody else on these forums can help you. I'm not sure if you can access network drives or other computers but you can definitely access anything on your HD.

Other than terminal, you can download a different application a lot like finder. I'm not sure what they would be called. Try googling. If all else fails go to the apple store. They will definitely help you.
 
Your Mac has just got itself all confused. Verify and repair Disk Permissions from the OS X disks.
 
ok ive tried that before..but i was fooling around without knowing the purpose of that action. if you could shed a little more light on the situation id really apprieciate it..and can you chat direct on here or even message someone?
 
addition

ok..another piece of info that may be helpful...say im in disk utility and down at the bottom where the specs are it says mounted point: / ive seen that before when i tried to search for a files location. It used to say something like users/paulkoy/whatever.... now it has the / symbol. oh and i cant click on repair for mac hd..and above HD it says 74.5 gb toshiba mk8034gsx media.
And by the way that you for the help
 
starstilllove said:
ok ive tried that before..but i was fooling around without knowing the purpose of that action. if you could shed a little more light on the situation id really apprieciate it..and can you chat direct on here or even message someone?
Click to expand...

From a God himself.

Permissions are the file system settings that control which users (or groups of users) can read, write, or execute a file or program or see the contents of a directory (folder). They are set certain ways to give programs and users access to the appropriate files and keep them out where they don't belong. When they are wrong (maybe because one program or installer set them inappropriately for another program's use), file access is denied when it should be allowed. It usually shows up as an odd symptom, because programs don't usually have good error checking for "can't access an expected file" when it is an internally used file (like a preferences file), as opposed to a file you are opening, which would produce a polite message if unavailable.

Repairing permissions sets the permission flags to the settings that Disk Utility knows they should have.

So it almost always doesn't hurt to repair permissions, and occasionally it helps.
Click to expand...


starstilllove said:
oh and i cant click on repair for mac hd..and above HD it says 74.5 gb toshiba mk8034gsx media.
And by the way that you for the help
Click to expand...

You probably won't be able to select from there because you are within OS X. Have you tried with the disks?
 
still no go

well i repaired/verified the volumes..i did notice there were some errors and they were fixed but as far as being able to open finder or mac HD.. is there another way to repair any problems or even find out what the problem may be?
 
It might help us if you could post a screenshot of exactly what you are able to access. It would help giving a more accurate definition of the issue. CMD+SHIFT+3.

If you can't access the file that is put on the desktop to post it here, take a photo with your phone.

Just a thought.
 
The way I see it, if you can't run install disks, and you can't see what is missing that is keeping finder from working then you have to view your files some other way. You can use terminal or a finder replacement (ie path finder by cocoatech). I just googled "finder mac replacement". Try this site: http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/10/08/10-os-x-finder-alternatives-compared-and-reviewed/

I'm not sure how simple it would be to download and install these without finder. You may need to use terminal. They might not even work as they may use a missing component from finder. Many finder replacements are not free, but some have a 30 day trial.

Follow this: Open terminal. Type what is inside the quotes: "open .". Finder should open. If it doesn't, give a screenshot of the terminal window or just reply back with what it says.

Best of luck.
 
terminal

Last login: Sun Dec 31 16:00:32 on console
Welcome to Darwin!
Atrum-Dius:~ paulkoy$ open
Usage: open [-e] [-t] [-f] [-b <bundle identifier>] [-a <appname>] [filenames]
Help: Open opens files from a shell.
By default, opens each file using the default application for that file.
If the file is in the form of a URL, the file will be opened as a URL.
Options:
-a Opens with the specified application.
-b Opens with the specified application bundle identifier.
-e Opens with TextEdit.
-t Opens with default text editor.
-f Reads input from standard input and opens with TextEdit.
Atrum-Dius:~ paulkoy$
.....

ok so i typed open in the terminal and this is what it says
 
what i see

ok i can use everything on my dock and i can open programs from the spotlight. From the spotlight i see MacHD my user file, home, desktop ..and i placed them on the dock by the trash and i can view but not open anything in those areas. which is basically everything in the finder except network/servers.
 
You forgot the period in the command, that is:

Code: 
open .

Is Finder giving you any sort of error when it fails to open?

You may need to kickstart it again, Finder has a few... bugs.

Something to try, in Terminal.

Code: 
screen /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

stridemat said:
From a God himself.

You probably won't be able to select from there because you are within OS X. Have you tried with the disks?
Click to expand...

You can verify and repair permissions of the boot volume while booted to it, you cannot however perform a disk repair (repairing the actual filesystem) while booted to the volume.

The OP is simply looking at the wrong button.

In addition, permissions are unlikely to fix the problem. Then again, there isn't enough information here to go on. But jumping to the conclusion "Your system is all confused" and recommending a permissions repair is the maybe one of the most illogical thing one could do.
 
calderone said:
You forgot the period in the command, that is:

Code: 
open .

Is Finder giving you any sort of error when it fails to open?

You may need to kickstart it again, Finder has a few... bugs.

Something to try, in Terminal.

Code: 
screen /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder



You can verify and repair permissions of the boot volume while booted to it, you cannot however perform a disk repair (repairing the actual filesystem) while booted to the volume.

The OP is simply looking at the wrong button.

In addition, permissions are unlikely to fix the problem. Then again, there isn't enough information here to go on. But jumping to the conclusion "Your system is all confused" and recommending a permissions repair is the maybe one of the most illogical thing one could do.
Click to expand...




i am gettting error -10810 finder cant open" and my mount point on HD aalso says /

is there ny way without the disks to repir this? i am at beach for a week and not disks. also i repaired disk permissions and verified again, all looks fine. i can see the HD and its vol and info is there but finder can not link to it.
 
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