cut and paste failed

Question

Level 2

334 points

cut and paste failed

No cut and paste available either by keyboard or control click (can copy on that but no paste available)

No drag available either.

Have repaired permissions. No joy.

This is a major major bug and it seems Im not the only one, surely there is a fix for this? It makes the mac all but useless

N

Imac g5, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Nov 15, 2008 5:12 AM

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Answer 1

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 5:35 AM in response to Nick Harman1

What happens when you select "Edit > Show Clipboard" in the finder?

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Answer 2

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 5:50 AM in response to Zlig

I see a blank space where, presumably, my copied text should be. "clipboard contents.none'

In Word I am getting 'there is not enough memory or disk space to complete this operation' message when I apple+V (768 MB RAM, 76GB unused space on HD)

no message at all (or paste) if i use the pull down menu.

In text edit I get a system bleep when I apple +V

Drag will not work at all on folders or icons and as I cannot copy and paste I cannot move files

I can 'send to trash' which I think is where this blasted OS should go! Really, this is a major bug and its going to cost me a days work while I set up an old mac i thought id never have to use again

This along with the noted bug that stops the ability to rename files (usually fixed via restart) is making me question 10.5.5's viability.

I hope someone somewhere knows what's going on and how to fix it

Thx

N

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Answer 3

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 5:57 AM in response to Nick Harman1

Have you tried a [PRAM reset|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379]?

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Answer 4

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 6:23 AM in response to Zlig

I have now! No joy.

The whole mac is going mad, I cannot connect to my old mac as the finder on the iMac says I must put afp etc etc in front of the other macs ip address. I do, but it still returns that message.

Of course I cannot copy files to the other mac even if i could connect to it or even to a USB drive as that requires the basic ability to drag and drop or cut and paste. Luckily I seem to be able to connect the other direction and can save files that way.

I can see that a whole system reinstall will be needed, like getting a new engine when your car wont start. This is not good, in 15 years of apple use I have never seen such a terrible bug

N

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Answer 5

joshz

Level 4

3,290 points

Nov 15, 2008 6:41 AM in response to Nick Harman1

How much free space do you have on your hard drive?

How large is your hard drive?

It sounds like you're desperately low on space. DELETE SOME FILES, or AT LEAST move them to an external hard drive.

If you are too low on space, it can cause this kind of behavior, and, eventually, a full system crash.

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Answer 6

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 6:51 AM in response to Nick Harman1

Lets see if the same behaviour happens if you create a new "test" user in System Preferences > Accounts and log in with that user.

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Answer 7

joshz

Level 4

3,290 points

Nov 15, 2008 7:13 AM in response to Zlig

Zlig wrote:
Lets see if the same behaviour happens if you create a new "test" user in System Preferences > Accounts and log in with that user.

DO NOT TRY THIS UNTIL YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH FREE SPACE YOU HAVE!!!!!
IF YOU RUN OUT OF FREE SPACE, IT ALMOST CERTAINLY WILL CRASH YOUR MAC!!!!

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Answer 8

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 8:27 AM in response to joshz

For cut and paste not to work on account of lack of free space, there would have to be about 20k free. I'd be pretty surprised if this were the case.

Nick please let us know the situation regarding free space.

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Answer 9

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 8:35 AM in response to Zlig

Hi I thought I had made it clear in my earlier post that I have 78 GB of free space on a 150GB HD and that I have 768MB of RAM

I'd have thought 78 GB was enough space 🙂

N

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Answer 10

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 9:10 AM in response to Nick Harman1

Oh btw, yes I have tried creating a new user account with admin privileges but it makes no difference

N

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Answer 11

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 9:10 AM in response to Nick Harman1

Thanks for clarifying 🙂. So now lets see if the same behaviour happens if you create a new "test" user in System Preferences > Accounts and log in with that user.

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Answer 12

Zlig

Level 4

1,340 points

Nov 15, 2008 9:16 AM in response to Zlig

We posted simultaneously. So lets try another approach.

You say that you can copy but not paste via control-click, but if your clipboard appears empty then copying can't be working either.

While browsing I came across [this|http://www.dribin.org/dave/blog/archives/2008/08/31/copy and_pastemac> article which suggests a fix - think you could give it a try?

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Answer 13

joshz

Level 4

3,290 points

Nov 15, 2008 9:35 AM in response to Nick Harman1

Nick Harman1 wrote:
Hi I thought I had made it clear in my earlier post that I have 78 GB of free space on a 150GB HD and that I have 768MB of RAM

(D'OH)!

Wait, you have 768 MB of RAM?????
That's not much. You may want to consider upgrading that.

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Answer 14

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 10:28 AM in response to joshz

No its not much but... it's not so bad as to cause the machine to misbehave this badly surely?

N

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Answer 15

Nick Harman1 Author

Level 2

334 points

Nov 15, 2008 10:32 AM in response to Zlig

Thx

I will give it a try although its a bit technical... this is getting to be like looking after a windoze machine!

I dont know if I can do it but I will try tomorrow (UK time here, time for food and relaxin!)

N

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