I think I just completely screwed my system!

[bill4588]

Ok I used Pacifist to reinstall all the fonts I deleted (wanted to save HD space), but I noticed iWeb wasn't working right so I wanted the fonts back. After it was finished, a lot of applications are screwy, like Quicktime, DVD Player, EVEN SYSTEM PREFERENCES! OMG! The icon is gone (replaced with a piece of paper with the applications "A" icon thing...you know with the ruler and pencil and paintbrush). It says I cannot open these apps! AAAAHHHHHHH! Is there a way to fix this? I made a backup of my system but that was over a month ago and I've added so much more since then. Is my only option to go back to that?

 

[Queso]

May be a silly question, but have you repaired your disk permissions? It's quite possible the system just needs to "fix" those replaced font files.

 

[bill4588]

I can't seem to access the permissions sections since mostly everything in my utilities folder is gone (replaced with the paper icon). Can I do this off the CD's?

 

[jsw]

Yes, you should be able to do an Archive and Install, which should keep all of your user files intact.

 

[bill4588]

Yes, you should be able to do an Archive and Install, which should keep all of your user files intact.

how do I do that exactly?

 

[Queso]

The permissions and ownerships it needs are 664, then owned by root and the admin group. You can drop out to the console mode and repair the directory permissions using the command line.

Get to the login window, then type >console into the username box. Leave the password blank.

Log in using the short variant of your normal username and your usual password.

Navigate to the fonts directory you put the files into using the cd command. This will either be ~/Library/Fonts or /Library/Fonts.

e.g. "cd /Library/Fonts" takes you to the system fonts directory.

Run the ls -l command to see what the current permissions and ownerships are. They should be

-rw-rw-r--...1 root admin........0 Aug 22 2005 Times New Roman

If they are different you need to use the chown, chgrp and chmod commands to get them back to how they should be.

 

[jsw]

how do I do that exactly?

If you have the restoration disks (or OS install disks), insert them and boot from them as though you were going to reformat your system (hold 'C' down when booting after you've installed the disks). You'll be given a few installation options, one of which will be Archive and Install. Be sure to check the "Customize" buttons (or whatever they're named) as they'll let you not install languages and printer drivers you don't need.

 

[bill4588]

I did an archive and install and everything works great! thanks for the help everyone.