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Question Profile
| DATE | Dec 8, 2006 |
| TICKET | #332262 |
| STATUS | Closed |
| SUBJECT | On-screen text corrupted |
| CAT | Computers, Operating Systems, Applications or Connected Devices |
| TYPE | Operating System Features, Bugs and Problems |
| DESC | Apple |
| DESC | 10.4.X (Tiger) |
| PLATFORM | Apple Macintosh (PowerPC G3,G4,G5) |
| MODEL | G4 |
| PROC | 1 GHz |
| RAM | 512MB |
| DRIVE | 160 GB |
| NAME | Douglas |
| USERNAME | maguffin |
| TECHNICAL | Little Experience |
| ISSUE | Need Advice |
Question Details
TICKET ARCHIVE -> On-screen text corrupted
maguffin - Dec 8, 2006 - 2:22 am
I recently bought a second-hand G4 running OSX. It came with a strange bug.
I first noticed the problem in email. The second line of every header was unreadable. This was because the usual font had been replaced by an unfamiliar and unreadable graphics font. Sometimes the message text was corrupted in the same way.
The problem turned up in other applications as well. Certain websites are totally unreadable. Some Word files had portions of the text translated into this useless font.
I selected some of this garbage text in Word and changed the font. Suddenly it was transformed into normal English. I entered some text into a sticky note. It looked just fine. I made it bold and it changed into the graphics font.
Help!
I first noticed the problem in email. The second line of every header was unreadable. This was because the usual font had been replaced by an unfamiliar and unreadable graphics font. Sometimes the message text was corrupted in the same way.
The problem turned up in other applications as well. Certain websites are totally unreadable. Some Word files had portions of the text translated into this useless font.
I selected some of this garbage text in Word and changed the font. Suddenly it was transformed into normal English. I entered some text into a sticky note. It looked just fine. I made it bold and it changed into the graphics font.
Help!
ishan - Dec 8, 2006 - 3:31 am
You could do a number of things:
1. Delete your font cache using any of the freeware/shareware utilities out there (Yasu is one, you can check versiontracker.com or macupdate.com for others, like Maintain, Onyx, Cocktail, Tinkertool, etc.). You may want to delete the system and user caches as well. No harm will be done.
2. Try Linotype FontExplorer X-a font management/repair tool which is free. There are other shareware tools as well.
3. If steps 1 and 2 don't help, do an archive/install using (ideally) the disks that came with the G4 or a Tiger install disk.
Word adds another layer of headaches, because it and some other apps maintain their own font files in a separate folder. However, trying the above should fix the problem for all apps.
Hope that helps and please let us know what happens. Thanks.
1. Delete your font cache using any of the freeware/shareware utilities out there (Yasu is one, you can check versiontracker.com or macupdate.com for others, like Maintain, Onyx, Cocktail, Tinkertool, etc.). You may want to delete the system and user caches as well. No harm will be done.
2. Try Linotype FontExplorer X-a font management/repair tool which is free. There are other shareware tools as well.
3. If steps 1 and 2 don't help, do an archive/install using (ideally) the disks that came with the G4 or a Tiger install disk.
Word adds another layer of headaches, because it and some other apps maintain their own font files in a separate folder. However, trying the above should fix the problem for all apps.
Hope that helps and please let us know what happens. Thanks.
maguffin - Dec 10, 2006 - 1:29 am
MacOSX,com rules! I was simply amazed at the speed of your response.
Now here's what happened. I downloaded Yasu, FontExplorer and Onyx. I deleted the caches with Yasu. It didn't fix the problem. For good measure, I deleted the caches again using both Onyx and FontExplorer. No joy.
Then I tried something from FontExplorer's Tools menu called "Clean Systems Fonts folders...". Instant success! Amazing! This problem has been driving me nuts for weeks. Thanks a million you guys. I wasn't looking forward to step 3 I can tell you!
Now here's what happened. I downloaded Yasu, FontExplorer and Onyx. I deleted the caches with Yasu. It didn't fix the problem. For good measure, I deleted the caches again using both Onyx and FontExplorer. No joy.
Then I tried something from FontExplorer's Tools menu called "Clean Systems Fonts folders...". Instant success! Amazing! This problem has been driving me nuts for weeks. Thanks a million you guys. I wasn't looking forward to step 3 I can tell you!
ishan - Dec 10, 2006 - 5:02 am
Glad it worked out without too much effort. Have a safe and happy Holiday!
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