Lion Finder loop crash: how to open Finder in specific folder?

[Thijs Moonen]

Hi, and thanks.

I encountered the Finder contineous crash problem this morning. I've tried to solve it for the last several hours. No success.



The problem is obvious: when I click the Finder icon, it opens the window in 'All My Files' mode. A corrupt file somewhere (NOT the desktop, nor the Trash) makes the Finder crash.

My question: can I use the Terminal to make the Finder open a window in, say, my 'Documents' folder? Then it would not encounter the corrupt file and not crash.


FYI: if you encounter this problem, you can first try these leads:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060308010111601
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/finder.html
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/193521/

 

[paulsalter]

What happens if you click on the trash can

it should open finder and default to trash, you can then navigate to find corrupt file

if this does work, have a look in your library, there is a folder called 'Saved Application state', not sure but this looks like it remembers the state of apps when you close them, if you can get into it delete the finder reference

 

[Thijs Moonen]

When I click on the trashcan, I get the same message as when I click the Finder icon:

"The Application 'Finder' unexpectedly quit while trying to restore its windows"

I can empty the trash by right clicking on it. The can then appears empty, but it mysteriously fills up again with -something- a fraction of a second later. The looping just continues.

I already tried all the other solutions (including deleting the Finder reference), but thanks anyway for helping!

 

[paulsalter]

have a look here

go into terminal

cd Library
cd "Saved Application State"
ls

does this show a file for finder ?

 

[Thijs Moonen]

Hi Paul!

thank you so much, this hint definitely helped!

So as you said, I used your command to see if there was a 'Saved Application State'-file for the Finder

it showed files for about 30 Applications, including the Finder:

com.apple.finder.savedState


I could guess the next step myself, so I deleted the file using

rm -rf /Users/Thijs/Library/Saved Application State/com.apple.finder.savedState

and then

logout

After two days of working in FCPX with the Finder-icon constantly jumping up at the bottom of my screen, this feels like an oasis. We'll see if the problem comes back.

 

[paulsalter]

Good Stuff, Thanks for letting me know

Handy folder to remember if an app has problems starting, delete entry from here and it forgets its last state and opens up fresh

 

[heydesign]

Another solution for flashing finder

I tried many things including changing things via terminal...none of which worked. Adding another account works to stop the finder flashing, but that was not an option as I didn't want to have to reset and reload everything from my main 'flashing' account. After much reading and many suggestions the following finally did.

NOTE: This flashing started when I downloaded the latest software update 10.7.4. but I see it seems to happen randomly when doing other things.
I think Apple has dropped the ball. Lion has been atrociously glitchy.

SOLUTION:
1. Chances are that you can't use finder to drag anything into folders. If this is the case go to Apple/System Preferences/Users & Groups and create another temporary account with administrative access. Log out of the 'flashing' account and into the temp account.

2. In safari to http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php and download the Maintenance software for your version of Lion.

3. Open it, drag the 'maintenance' file to your applications/utilities folder. Double click to open the program and run the default tests.

4. On completion restart the computer and log back in to the 'flashing' account, which by now should be fixed.

This did it for me. Its a pain so I hope this info helps other people who may be affected.

 

[Sam.S.S]

PAINLESS fix to Finder crashes OSX Lion

My PAINLESS fix:
1. Finder-> preferences->general tab->change to "always open folders in a new window"
2. Finder-> preferences->advanced->remove check for "show all filename extensions"
3. View-> as Icons
4. View->View options-> check "open in icon view" and "browse in icon view"

Making the above changes, I no longer had the finder crashing when opening folders etc. in Mac Lion OSX 10.7.4.

I noticed that in the desktop, when opening the icons and folders directly from the desktop, i was not crashing. I also noted the problem mentioned by other users with the leopard file extensions. However, instead of having to change file names, i mimicked the folder view i had in the desktop to the finder, thus avoiding the potential conflicts resulting in the check made viewing the problematic old extensions and a reiteration made when viewing in the same window. You may try to skip or modify one or two of the above steps, but the above worked.
If you have any questions, please let me know or if i happened to skip a step. This was the least painful way to correct the problem and yet be able to view and access my files from the finder without any crashes. The downside is obviously that you will be limited to customizing the view that you want, but the upside it is quick and no substantive changes are made to the files.

 

[Sueco]

Did not work for me

My PAINLESS fix:
1. Finder-> preferences->general tab->change to "always open folders in a new window"
2. Finder-> preferences->advanced->remove check for "show all filename extensions"
3. View-> as Icons
4. View->View options-> check "open in icon view" and "browse in icon view"

Making the above changes, I no longer had the finder crashing when opening folders etc. in Mac Lion OSX 10.7.4.

I noticed that in the desktop, when opening the icons and folders directly from the desktop, i was not crashing. I also noted the problem mentioned by other users with the leopard file extensions. However, instead of having to change file names, i mimicked the folder view i had in the desktop to the finder, thus avoiding the potential conflicts resulting in the check made viewing the problematic old extensions and a reiteration made when viewing in the same window. You may try to skip or modify one or two of the above steps, but the above worked.
If you have any questions, please let me know or if i happened to skip a step. This was the least painful way to correct the problem and yet be able to view and access my files from the finder without any crashes. The downside is obviously that you will be limited to customizing the view that you want, but the upside it is quick and no substantive changes are made to the files.

Followed all your explanations but it goes on crashing.
I really do not understand what has happened after the last update to 10.7.5¡¡¡¡
Will go on searching a solution.
Thanks anyway

 

[dawnho]

Crashing Finder

I followed all the advice here for a crashing finder; reinstalled system, tried to command in Terminal, made new account and transferred files, and ya know what worked? NONE OF THEM!

I took the user file desktop, threw it away, and voila! IT WORKED AGAIN

Thanks for all the tips tho....

 

[Axel B]

finder crash loop in MAC OS 10.7.5

PROBLEM: finder crash loop
The other apps works but finder crash and recrash indefinetly when i restart it.

The trouble don't comes if i start with another user account.
Repair permission in DiskUtility don't work.

Like a previous post, to access to my files, PathFinder is a way.
1› Start with another user account.
Download and install PathFinder for all users
Log on with with your usual name and, with Pathfinder, move files on the desktop to another directory.
No more crash. You can make a backup of the files in your account.

2› How ONYX saved my life
Launch (in Utlity Disk)
Go in CLEAN UP tab
Suppr Caches files - Check Core and extensions
Execute
Et voila...

 

[benwiggy]

My question: can I use the Terminal to make the Finder open a window in, say, my 'Documents' folder? Then it would not encounter the corrupt file and not crash.

Surprised no one has actually answered the OP's question.
Yes. "open ~/Documents" will reveal the user Documents folder in the Finder.

Admittedly, this doesn't necessarily solve the problem.