Downloaded .dmg files will not mount

Question

Level 1

9 points

Downloaded .dmg files will not mount

Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, I cannot get any downloaded .dmg files to do anything. After downloading them, I double click on them and nothing happens. Nothing. No error message. No bouncing dock icons. Nothing. I've tried downloading them using Firefox and Safari with the same results. This is happening with all .dmg files, not just the same ones, so I know it's not unique to a particular .dmg file.

Any ideas or fixes? Anyone else having this issue?

15" Macbook Pro (LED screen, pre-unibody), Mac OS X (10.6), MBP: 2.4Ghz, 2Gb RAM

Posted on Sep 1, 2009 2:42 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Sep 1, 2009 4:47 PM in response to LoganGreer

That's controlled by /System/Library/CoreServices/DiskImageMounter.app. Select a .dmg file, CMD+I, and see what's indicated under *open with.* If not that app, then select it, and click Change all. Now, double-click on a .dmg file and all should be well.

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Answer 2

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:05 PM in response to baltwo

Tried that. No joy. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Also, it appears that I can't unzip anything either with the "Archive Utility." This is not good. I don't think I can go much longer with this limitation.

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Answer 3

A A P L

Level 7

21,746 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:11 PM in response to LoganGreer

Do you have Stuffit or Stuffit Deluxe installed?
If so, make sure they're not set to mount images.

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Answer 4

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:20 PM in response to A A P L

Neither is installed. You guys using Snow Leopard aren't experiencing anything like this at all? What makes my machine different?

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Answer 5

A A P L

Level 7

21,746 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:24 PM in response to LoganGreer

About a million possibilities...
Can you open Disk Utility, and then open the DMG from within it?

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Answer 6

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:24 PM in response to LoganGreer

try it in a new user account. if the same problem exists there i would reinstall snow leopard.

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Answer 7

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:28 PM in response to A A P L

Opening the dmg file from within Disk Utility worked. It's like the Disk Utility never initializes when I click on a dmg file.

I did a spotlight search and the "Archive Utility" never could be found.

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Answer 8

Sep 1, 2009 9:42 PM in response to LoganGreer

Spotlight won't find the Archive Utility (you can find it in a Finder search window, but only if you tell it to include system files). It should have been installed in /System/Library/CoreServices (along with DiskImageMounter).

It does sound as if your file associations are screwed up. Did you say that the "Open With" for .dmg files was showing "DiskImageMounter"?

You could try doing this, which resets the associations for all applications:

In a terminal window, type:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.fram ework/Versions/Current/Support/lsregister -kill -seed

You may get a bunch of warnings after that about opening apps for the first time.

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Answer 9

A A P L

Level 7

21,746 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:43 PM in response to LoganGreer

Try deleting:

Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.frameworks.diskimages.uiagent
Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.diskimages.fsck

Logout/in.
Retry.

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Answer 10

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:52 PM in response to A A P L

Thanks for all the helps. I'm trying all of the above. Be back in a jiffy.

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Answer 11

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 1, 2009 11:29 PM in response to A A P L

Deleting those preference files seemed to work! Thanks so much!

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Answer 12

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Sep 1, 2009 11:30 PM in response to LoganGreer

Thanks for the feedback. Good computing.

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Answer 13

A A P L

Level 7

21,746 points

Sep 2, 2009 4:23 AM in response to LoganGreer

Glad to help.
Thanks for reporting back.

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Answer 14

LoganGreer Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 4, 2009 9:33 AM in response to A A P L

The problem is happening again. There must be something that resets the settings for this issue.

I've also noticed this time around that if I mount a dmg manually with the Disk Utility, and contains an installation package, that it starts the "Installer" utility, but it just bounces on the dock and becomes unresponsive to anything but a Force Quit.

So add that to the list:
- Disk Image Mounter
- Archive Utility
- Installer Utility

Any permanent fix ideas?

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Answer 15

Sep 7, 2009 7:53 AM in response to LoganGreer

I have same problem. Holding cmd-opt-esc you can see the application listed but it's not running at all. with cmd-tab it's not showing up. I have to keep on deleting the 2 pref in the user/pref folder and relog. Any idea? The only thing I did was install 10.6 over 10.5.8. I also reinstall Stuffit Deluxe.

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