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Level 1

13 points

blank quicklook

hey all,
i'm pretty good at troubleshooting these things by myself usually but i have exhausted all that i know at this point:

whenever i try to quicklook anything, that audio comes through (if it is a movie or song) but the place for the graphic is always blank. It is blank for everything: pdfs, documents, songs, videos, etc.

here's what i have tried:
- i relaunched the finder
- i created a separate new account, logged into that and it still was a problem
- removed all the plugins from the quicklook folder and then relaunched finder

none of these have worked

i did just recently (last week) do a time machine restore for my whole system....

are there any other options other than wiping hte hard drive and then reinstall from the time machine backup again?

appreciate any relevant advice you have to offer!

Thanks
~Will-i-am~

Aluminum Imac 20in, Mac OS X (10.6.1), Core Duo 2.4ghz; 4 gig ram; 750gig harddrive

Posted on Nov 12, 2009 7:18 PM

34 replies

Nov 15, 2009 8:29 PM in response to nojohnny101

I would imagine that since this problem has affected all of us under very specific circumstances (doing a system restore with Time Machine) that it is a bug in OS X or Time Machine Restore. Would it make sense to submit the bug to Apple so it can be fixed by them?

Nov 15, 2009 8:53 PM in response to Darren Haber

I'm having the same problem (MacBook Pro, 10.6.2). I installed a new disk in my machine and then used the Snow Leopard install DVD to restore from a Time Machine backup. Quick Look worked fine beforehand, as far as I can recall, and definitely doesn't work now. The system log is full of entries like this:

Nov 15 20:43:07 Foo Finder[186]: [QL] Display bundle <QLGenericDisplayBundle: 0x11d9728e0> did not return a layer although it was required to because it did not return a view either.

Nov 15, 2009 9:19 PM in response to nojohnny101

Have you tried re-applying the latest OS update (combo version) after restoring from Time Machine? If not, try that.

Nov 15, 2009 9:47 PM in response to Topher Kessler

AMAZING. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I downloaded and installed the 10.6.2 combo update http://support.apple.com/kb/DL959 and I have Quicklook back.

nojohnny101 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 15, 2009 9:49 PM in response to Darren Haber

hey
i already have 10.6.2 installed. Can i still download the combo update and then install 10.6.2 again? Will it let me?

Thanks
~Will-i-am~

Nov 15, 2009 9:50 PM in response to nojohnny101

Yes it will. I also already had 10.6.2 installed.

Nov 15, 2009 10:16 PM in response to Darren Haber

Darren don't take this the wrong way but, I love you. It worked! My headaches are gone. Your rock man!

Nov 15, 2009 10:18 PM in response to CamButters

Haha, don't thank me, thank Tropher Kessler. He was the one who suggested the solution.

nojohnny101 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 15, 2009 10:33 PM in response to Darren Haber

hey
thanks so much Tom! I don't know why I didn't think of this either!

Thanks
~Will-i-am~

Nov 15, 2009 11:26 PM in response to Topher Kessler

Worked for me! Thank you Tropher, so much. I still love you Darren haha. Awkward.....

Message was edited by: CamButters

Nov 16, 2009 10:26 AM in response to nojohnny101

Want to add my thanks for the solution provided here. ALSO want to add an additional twist. I did my restore from a SuperDuper backup and wound up having the same problem with Quicklook as discussed here. And ... another twist: my current iMovie project would hang when trying to display imported video clips. The fix described here also described the iMovie problem. Nice bonus.

MadTater

Level 1

5 points

Nov 24, 2009 11:23 PM in response to nojohnny101

Ditto. I also was on 10.6.2, restored from Time Machine and suddenly QuickLook stopped working. Hopefully Apple will investigate why this happens.

I'm downloading the combo updater since, unfortunately, there seems to be no way to force a software update from a Snow Leopard Server once it has already been applied. If I don't post again, presume that it worked for me too.

MadTater

Level 1

5 points

Nov 25, 2009 6:17 PM in response to MadTater

Just confirming... Installing the Combo updater for 10.6.2 fixed the problem immediately after the reboot. My, oh, my I missed QuickLook!

Fusilier

Level 1

25 points

Nov 28, 2009 9:36 AM in response to nojohnny101

I had the exact same problem. My internal HD died and I had to replace it. I have to admit, knowing I had a full and recent back up on Time Machine saved me a lot of high blood pressure and worry. I knew I could restore my iMac.

Anyway, after a pile of searching I found the following over at MacFixIt:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10398867-263.html

As described, I downloaded and installed the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 Update (Combo):

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosxv1062updatecomb o.html

After installing and restarting the iMac, all is right with the world. This solution worked absolutely perfectly for me.

Nov 29, 2009 4:23 AM in response to nojohnny101

Had exactly the same problem/symptoms, and finally came across this thread after a few mind-blowing hours of research.

Thanks to the great community!

blank quicklook