System Preferences not responding OS Catalina 10.15.7

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Level 1

8 points

System Preferences not responding OS Catalina 10.15.7

Hello,

I've recently started having problems with System Preferences. It started when I reinstalled a Wacom driver because the device was suddenly no longer recognised. When I open System Preferences, I get the spinning beach ball and have to force quit. I can't access any part of it. Wacom Desktop Centre also doesn't respond and needs force quit.

Trashing various preferences.plist files from Library and rebooting doesn't resolve the problem.

Booting in safe mode doesn't resolve the problem.

Logging out and logging back using a test account lets me open the System Preferences. The connected Wacom device shows up in the preferences.

Can anyone help with this? Thanks!

(MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

Posted on Aug 11, 2021 12:42 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Sean_W.

Level 6

8,236 points

Aug 11, 2021 1:25 PM in response to bloodylekker

You mentioned being able to open System Preferences with a test user, which indicates a user-specific issue. Here are some steps that may help.

Log in with the affected user. Open Finder. From the menu bar, select Go > Home. From the menu bar, select File > New Finder Window and then select Go > Computer. Open Macintosh HD > Users > Shared. Move important data from your Home folders to the Shared folder.
Log in with the test user. Create a new user.
Restart your Mac.
Log in with the new user. Move important data from the Shared folder to your Home folders. Delete the affected user.

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Answer 2

Aug 17, 2021 5:43 AM in response to Sean_W.

Hi, I am experiencing the exact same issues as mentioned above - OS Catalina 10.15.7 I reinstalled a Wacom driver because the device was suddenly no longer recognized. When I open System Preferences, I get the spinning beach ball and have to force quit.

In your proposed solution, how can I create a test user without opening system preferences? (which will not run)

thank you

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Answer 3

bloodylekker Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 19, 2021 6:31 AM in response to jonathangrider

Hi Jonathan,

You are not alone! Many Wacom users are being messed around by Catalina and Big Sur.

I was able to fix System Preferences by using CleanMyMac to clean up system junk.

I was able to reconnect my Wacom by using a 3rd party app called Connect My Tablet.

You can buy it on the App Store for €10.

It takes a while to follow all the steps but the end result is a clean Wacom install which should work with future OS updates.

Hopefully this should solve your problem :)

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Answer 4

bloodylekker Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 11, 2021 2:10 PM in response to Sean_W.

Thanks Sean, I'll try that and see if it works!

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System Preferences not responding OS Catalina 10.15.7

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