Frozen icons - files will not move with mouse.

Question

Frozen icons - files will not move with mouse.

Hello, all.

All of a sudden I noticed that the icons on notebook's desktop have stopped responding to my mouse commands. I've tried with the built-in trackpad as well as with an external mouse. I've also tried to create a test user but the same happens.

I have also booted the system with Leopard's installation DVD and verified/repaired permissions to ensure that it wasn't the problem but the same continues to happen. I also verified read and write rights to these folders but nothing seems to be out of order (at least nothing that I can see).

This started happening after the internal drive became full and my wife deleted several photos stored in iPhoto.

Any ideas of what might be the cause and how to fix it ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Joseph

Powermac G5 dual 2.0 GHz 4.5 GB RAM, (2) int 1.5 TB HD, 23" cinema display, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Powerbook G4 1.33. GHz 17", 1.0 GB RAM, 80 GB HD

Posted on Dec 13, 2009 1:41 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Fiodan

Level 1

4 points

Feb 27, 2010 12:55 PM in response to apple_customer

I was able to solve this problem with the help of this article:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7980907#post7980907

Seems this problems is due to the loss of a symbolic link to the /private/tmp directory.

Symptoms:

-All drag & drop disabled (icons seem locked or frozen, cannot move songs in iTunes, cannot drag a disk to the trash to eject, etc).

-Copy & Paste does not work

-Spotlight does not work

-Prevents use of some applications (Adobe Photoshop CS3, in my case).

Using the above article, I was able to follow the steps and fix all of the above problems in one move.

I did the command line work recommended in the article (the one that mentions "sudo"), restarted, and all was well.

Wow, this was a full-day problem, but I am grateful I did not have to rebuild my drive from scratch.

Hope this helps someone else with this mysterious and very frustrating problem.

Best,

M

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Answer 2

John Potts

Level 4

3,118 points

Dec 14, 2009 12:23 PM in response to apple_customer

Joseph
Have you tried relaunching the Finder via Force Quit?

1 click Apple icon (top left in the Tool Bar) and select Force Quit
2 highlight Finder and click Relaunch button

This can clear whatever gremlin was affecting the desktop. Hope this helps.

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Answer 3

Dec 17, 2009 10:55 PM in response to Joe Salafia

Hi, Joe.

Thank you for your help and reply.

Unfortunately I couldn't wait to have the problem fixed as I use my notebook regularly.

The only way I found to resolve the issue was to erase everything on my internal HD and install OS X again (clean install). It is now working fine (although it took quite a bit of time and work, and I will never learn what happened).

Thanks again,

Joseph

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Answer 4

Dec 17, 2009 10:31 PM in response to apple_customer

Try resetting the PRAM.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html
After doing this you may have to choose OSX.whatever you are running On Macintosh HD as your startup disk in system preferences.

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Answer 5

Dec 14, 2009 6:46 PM in response to apple_customer

Right click on the desktop & choose show view options on the drop down menu next to arrange by does it say snap to grid or any other option other than none? If so change it to none.

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Answer 6

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Dec 13, 2009 2:23 PM in response to apple_customer

When you say, "stopped responding" you mean what? The application doesn't launch? What happens? How much free space is on your hard drive? Booting the system with the Leopard DVD you should run Repair Disk.

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Answer 7

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Dec 14, 2009 5:52 AM in response to apple_customer

Got it Joseph. What does happen when you try to move a file from the desktop to a folder say your Documents folder? Does a dialogue box come up? Is there a circle with a diagonal line through it? Can you create a new folder on your desktop and put the file/s in that?

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Answer 8

Dec 13, 2009 4:59 PM in response to sig

Hello, sig.

By stopped responding I meant that I can't move icons as they are static. I am able to browse the web with Safari and was even able to save a web page to the desktop but couldn't move its icon afterwards to move the file to a difference position.

Any ideas ?

Thanks,

Joseph

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Answer 9

Dec 14, 2009 1:22 AM in response to sig

Hello, sig.

No. I mean the icons on the desktop itself. Those that represent the files we keep in the Desktop folder. These files on the desktop can be moved, right ? In normal circumstances one can drag and drop a file icon from, let's say, the desktop and place it in another folder. In my case I am not being able to do it as the files will not move when I try to drag them with the mouse.

I think this is pretty clear. The file icons are stuck, static - they won't move.

Any ideas ?

Joseph

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Answer 10

Dec 14, 2009 3:09 PM in response to sig

Hello, sig.

I can't do it. The files' icons are frozen or static and it's not only the ones on the desktop. I can right click on a file and choose "Move to Trash" from the contextual menu. I can also create a new folder on the desktop by again right clicking and choosing "New Folder". However, whatever I create on the desktop (or any other folder for that matter) stays where it is since I can not move it to a new position or a new folder.

Any ideas ???

Joseph

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Answer 11

Dec 14, 2009 3:11 PM in response to John Potts

Hi, John.

Yes, I have. I actually relaunched the Finder a few times but it didn't help.

The Gremlin isn't only affecting the desktop. I've tried dragging and dropping files in other folders and they behave the same way. I can't move them with the mouse - they seem "frozen" for lack of a better word.

Any ideas ?

Joseph

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Answer 12

Fiodan

Level 1

4 points

Feb 26, 2010 4:01 PM in response to apple_customer

Just upgraded to 10.5.8 today and suddenly this problem appeared.

The thread starter tried his best to explain the problem but everyone seemed to be suggesting things that were not responsive to this problem (yet plausible overlooks for a n00b on OS X)

Let me first say that I have been using a Mac since 1988, and OS X since the day the Public Beta released. So, I know all the little tricks to try like zapping the PRAM, checking the align to grid settings and other stuff we used to try, just before disabling extensions and rebuilding the desktop :P

Here's what I am seeing: Any icon displayed in icon view is selectable, but immovable. You can double click on the icon to launch it, right click on it...do everything except move it. Even tried some of the old favorites like holding down a modifier key and dragging. Nope, still locked down.

I looked deep to find if there wasn't some kind of "Lock icons in place" setting in the 10.5.8 update that accidentally got enabled by default.

Also tried starting up with no battery or other accessories plugged in (after zapping the PRAM a few times).

Tried logging in to another account on the machine to see if it was my user account that was corrupted - same results in my son's account.

I am running a MacBook Pro 2.33 with 10.5.8 and 2GB of RAM.

This seems suspiciously tied to the update, but it may be a nasty coincidence. I have been holding off on installing my Snow Leopard upgrade because of the CS3 issues I have heard about. I hope this is not the "force point" on that. And rebuilding my drive from scratch? Ugh! I think I would just move to an "off the grid" commune instead of facing that one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Mike

UPDATE: this problem is affecting all dragging, not just icons. I just tried to drag the URL for this thread from the address bar to the desktop for later reference. Nope. Allows me to double click to select it, but not drag it.

Message was edited by: Fiodan

Message was edited by: Fiodan

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Answer 13

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Dec 13, 2009 5:09 PM in response to apple_customer

You mean move the icons in the Dock?
" but couldn't move its icon afterwards to move the file to a difference position."
You're going to have to be much clearer. Draw a picture with words.

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Answer 14

Dec 14, 2009 7:09 PM in response to Joe Salafia

Hi, Joe.

Just tried what you suggested but it didn't seem to change anything. Things are still "frozen".

Joseph

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Answer 15

Fiodan

Level 1

4 points

Feb 26, 2010 4:17 PM in response to apple_customer

Also wanted to note that I tried the "Get info on the desktop" trick. It wasn't locked. I even tried locking it, restarting and unlocking it, thinking it might overwrite some preference way down.

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