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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Help Viewer Does Not Open From Applications

neuquen - Sep 20, 2005 - 1:41 pm

I can open Help Viewer directly.
In the menu bar, Help Viewer shows me all the different applications helps available AND actually opens them. Ex: from Help Viewer opened, I access the help of iCal.

But, from these applications (iCal, Mail, etc...), the Help menu says that Help isnt't available for this application.

Could you please help me?

I use a PB G4 Aluminimum, 1,67GHz and 1GB RAM, under Tiger 10.4.2.

Thanks !

Marc

philippe99 - Sep 20, 2005 - 3:32 pm

Marc, welcome to macosx.com

May I suggest, as a first attempt to solve your issue, that you have a look to this faq:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/helpviewer.html
This faq is the more complete faq I ever seen about the HelpViewer problem.
Just read it and find the correct chapter which fits your problem: then run the advices of the chapter

Post back you tries.
Regards
Philippe

neuquen - Sep 20, 2005 - 7:29 pm

Thank you Philippe, for your attempt to help me.

I went to the thexlab.com site and read everything which dealt with Help Viewer/Tiger.

I tried everything they advised (actually my very symptom is not addressed in their site), reinstalled the Help Viewer app from original install DVD and using Pacifist, trashed the Help cache and preference list.

Nothing changed.

To give more concrete example of my problem:

1. I open the Help Viewer application (directly by clicking on the app icone)

2. I open the iCAL help page, from the Library tab of the Help Viewer menu bar. This works fine.

3. I close the Help Viewer app, then open iCAL. The HELP command of the iCAL menu bar returns me a *Help isn't available for iCAL*, which is obviously wrong.

Now please allow me to specify a detail about my install:

I bought my PB G4 new from Apple online store. I installed Tiger then migrated data and non-system software, via the migration assistant of OSX, from a previous Panther installation.

But, I decided to change the language of OSX, switching from the French language of Panther, to the English language of Tiger.

Could this have impacted the homogenity of OSX and generated the problem I am posting on this forum?

I raise this question since I had already met this issue under Windows, having a conflict of path, between 2 different translations of the system directory called *Program Files*.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Marc

neuquen - Sep 20, 2005 - 8:39 pm

Sorry for bothering the readers of this forum again, but I have just solved my HELP VIEWER problem, and don't want Philippe and others to keep on brainstorming for nothing.

Here is how I solved it:

1. I realized that the icon of the HELP VIEWER application was the generic one (paper sheets, a ruler, a pencil, etc...) instead of the expected life-guard.

2. So, I requested a copy of the app file from another Tiger user (different file size and creation/modification dates...) and installed it into the MacIntosh HD / System / Library / CoreServices directory (I was resquested to authenticate my copying into this protected system directory).

3. Everything came back to normal.

I don't understand why my attempt to reinstall the original file from the DVD (using Pacifist) had failed, while this simple file copy worked perfectly.

Anyhow, I hope this experience of mine will help other people.

Regards,

Marc

philippe99 - Sep 21, 2005 - 2:22 am

Happy you find the solution.
As you spoke about the generic icon of the Help, my following advice would be to repair permissions through DU
Maybe this simple maintenance tip will solve your issue.
But, well, the most important is that your Help works now.

Thank you for posting back the solution: it would be stored in our FAQ.
Thank you for using macosx.com, Marc.
Regards
Philippe