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Q: my 5k iMac "cannot open desktop and screen saver prefernces pane" nor can it open "display preferences pane" under system preferences; what is going on?

my 5k iMac "cannot open desktop and screen saver prefernces pane" nor can it open "display preferences pane" under system preferences; what is going on? I restarted in safe mode and tried several other fixes from earlier questions but nothing changed.

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 5, 2014 9:11 PM

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Q: my 5k iMac "cannot open desktop and screen saver prefernces pane" nor can it open "display preferences pane" under system preferen ... more

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 5, 2014 9:44 PM in response to FOHoNet
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Dec 5, 2014 9:44 PM in response to FOHoNet

    First follow the instructions in this support article.

    If an iPhoto or Aperture library is the source of your desktop pictures, it may need to be rebuilt, or you may need to update the application to the latest version.

    Otherwise, continue as below.

    Back up all data.

    In the Finder, hold down the option key and select

              Go Library

    from the menu bar. From the Library folder, delete the following item, if it exists:

              Caches/com.apple.systempreferences

    and move the following items to the Desktop, if they exist:

              Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db

              Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist

    Launch System Preferences and test. If you still have the issue, put the items you moved to the Desktop back where they came from and post again. Otherwise, delete the items.

  • by FOHoNet,

    FOHoNet FOHoNet Dec 5, 2014 10:21 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2014 10:21 PM in response to Linc Davis

    tried both. no change.

     

    also contacted apple support and reset the SMC and PRAM. No change.

     

    The "Caches/com.apple.systempreferences" and "Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist" files did not exist. But the "Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db" file was there. Moved it and tried, but no luck. Then moved it back.

  • by FOHoNet,

    FOHoNet FOHoNet Dec 5, 2014 10:23 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2014 10:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

    forgot to mention: there are zero files in my iPhoto. I have not uploaded any pics. My previous desktop was just a pic i saved to a folder on the HD.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 5, 2014 11:09 PM in response to FOHoNet
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Dec 5, 2014 11:09 PM in response to FOHoNet

    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take one of the actions that you're having trouble with. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

  • by FOHoNet,

    FOHoNet FOHoNet Dec 5, 2014 11:35 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2014 11:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

    ok, here it is!

     

    12/6/14 4:34:29.145 PM System Preferences[485]: ### com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect instantiatePrefPaneObject exception:-[NSTaggedPointerString getCharacters:range:]: Range {0, 2} out of bounds; string length 1

  • by FOHoNet,Solvedanswer

    FOHoNet FOHoNet Dec 5, 2014 11:47 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2014 11:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

    i went to: library/application support/dock and deleted the "desktoppicutre.db" file and now it all works fine.

     

    i did this step but just put the file on the desktop and it did not work. deleting the file worked.

     

    Thanks for your help.