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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Help Viewer not working

dennis - Dec 5, 2005 - 1:48 pm

I have just installed the very latest version of Tiger on my imac G4. Everything working fine and much quicker but unfortunately Help Viewer has stopped searching!

I set up mail and tried to ask a question in help view which initially worked but the for some reason will not make any more searches. Ask it a question and the spinning grey disc does its thing but nothing happens (and no clicking from the hard drive) so eventually I have to give up.

Have updated permission and verified everything fine , could this be a cache problem or similar?

skapp - Dec 5, 2005 - 4:27 pm

Try the following:

In most cases doing the following will restore the Help Viewer:

1. Trash the following three files, if extant:

/Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.help.plist
/Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.helpui.plist
/Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.helpviewer.plist

2. Trash the /Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.helpui folder.

3. Empty the Trash and Restart.

dennis - Dec 6, 2005 - 5:01 am

Thanks for that but I can only find one file in cache marked
com.apple.helpui

Should I trash this whole file which on get info says created yesterday 584kb. (yesterday was the first time I upgraded and used Tiger 10.4.3)

Everything else on the imac so much better under Tiger!!

skapp - Dec 6, 2005 - 9:33 am

Yes, go ahead and trash that folder. See if that fixes the problem.

dennis - Dec 6, 2005 - 12:22 pm

Did exactly as you said and'hey' I have got my help viewer back and working perfectly!

Thanks again for your help, does this work with any other applications?

Dennis

skapp - Dec 6, 2005 - 12:54 pm

The general idea is that preference files can become corrupted and cause the application to crash. Deleting the preference file can then return to application to normal function.



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Kappy

dennis - Jan 13, 2006 - 10:47 am

Sorry to be a pain with this one but helpviewer has ceased to function everytime I try and use it again.

I keep trashing the above files mentioned - com.apple files and cache/com.apple.helpui with the exception of com.apple.helpui.plist which I cannot find?

On a restart I usually get one shot at it to search for a topic and then nothing again just the usual lockup, is there anything else i can try please.

Thanks Dennis

skapp - Jan 13, 2006 - 12:30 pm

This strongly suggests you have some major system and/or disk corruption going on. I suggest you first do the following:

Boot from your OS X Installer. Be sure to use the installer for the version of OS X you have installed. After the installer loads select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (or Utilities menu if using Tiger.) After DU loads select your OS X volume from the list on the left, click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.

[If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (3.0.3 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.1.1 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.]

I doubt this will straighten everything out, but it's a step in the right direction. Next you need to download one of the various maintenance utilities like Onyx, Cocktail, CacheOut X, etc. (www.versiontracker.com) and use it to clean the caches, run the maintenance scripts, and delete unneeded log and temp files. Be sure to clear out font caches and check your font folders for duplicate fonts. Also check for the fonts TimesRO and HelveticaFractions. If you find them, delete them. If you are using File Vault, don't.

Also open the Accounts preference pane and check your Login Items for iTunesHelper. If you find it, delete it. You will then need to restart.

You may also need to delete the Help Viewer preference files and cache folder again once all the above has been tended to. I don't know if this will fix things. If you actually have a corrupted system the only fix is to either erase and install or to do an Archive and Install. The latter, however, should not be done without first verifying that the hard drive is repaired and OK.

dennis - Jan 14, 2006 - 5:26 am

Thanks very much for the help I will print all this off and take your advice.

Just one thought though as I will shortly be ordering my new Intel imac do you think that a straight clean installation of Tiger 10.4.3 which I have, would be the best solution. A good friend of mine will be taking over this computer and I want it to be spot on for her.

regards Dennis.

skapp - Jan 14, 2006 - 11:06 am

Yes. In the long run a cleanly erased hard drive and a clean install of Tiger is the best solution to all problems (extreme in some cases, but best nevertheless.)

If you are giving/selling the computer to someone else, then it's best to remove everything and turn over a clean computer. In fact I would suggest you do an extended reformat as follows:

1. Boot from the Tiger DVD. After the installer loads select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.

4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.

6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.

After the format completes quit DU to return to the installer and proceed to install Tiger. After the installation is completed successfully download the 10.4.3 Combo Updater and install it.

dennis - Jan 14, 2006 - 3:06 pm

Thanks very much for your help, I really appreciate the time you have taken to sort me out. I dont have diskwarrior and this seems the best solution to sort out the problems I have been having.

My imac which is a 700mhz G4 has been running faithfully for about 4 years and Tiger is the 3rd installation (simple upgrade) that it has had so I am not surprised that the hard disk may have been somehow corrupted, particularly as I stupidly used an old version of secret shredder to try and clean the disk which went on to fill up all my spare space before I found out hoew to get rid of it!!

I will use your instructions to clean up my system and clean instal Tiger 10.4.3 so my friend gets a stable computer which apart from this problem works brilliantly.

Thanks again for your help and just one last question should I buy diskwarrior for Tiger now or wait for a later edition given the arrival of intel macs of which I am about to buy one?

regards Dennis

skapp - Jan 14, 2006 - 4:03 pm

Hmmm, now there's a good question! The current version of DW (3.0.3) does work with Tiger. However, the version of OS X on the DW CD will definitely not startup one of the new Intel Macs. They require a special version of 10.4.4. That said I don't know if the application itself will work under Rosetta.

It would be my "assumption" that neither Disk Warrior nor TechTool Pro should be used until their respective developers issue a notice of compatibiliby and/or newly compatible versions.

dennis - Jan 15, 2006 - 9:39 am

Noted the last, seems best to wait for DW to get fully updated as everything is moving so fast in the direction of intel.

Anyhow I am sure a brand new imac will be fine (so long as I dont do anything stupid migrating my stuff across from my old mac!)

Thanks again for the help.

Dennis

skapp - Jan 15, 2006 - 11:01 am

I'm sure that Disk Warrior and TechTool Pro will both be quickly updated for the new Intel Macs. I suggest that when you buy that new iMac you also buy an external Firewire drive equal to or larger than the iMac's hard drive. Use the Restore option of Disk Utility to clone the internal drive to the external one. Now you will have a "clean" backup in case a problem arises.

I've already put my order in for one of the new MacBook Pros. I expect that by February we should start seeing upgrades for DW and TTPro.

dennis - Jan 18, 2006 - 12:14 pm

Noted last I will wait before getting DW to see what happens!

Am also looking at getting a hard drive as you suggest.

Thanks Dennis