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Q: finder corrupt? - Strange characters in menu

I restarted my computer because it felt bogged down. Upon re-start I can no longer open Word, Excel etc...I have 2004 copies. I can re-install or upgrade. But the real strange thing is that my finder how shows items like this in the menu:

 

Under File L1,

 

Edit Menu -  ME13, ME6, ME1 (all with shortcuts like AppleZ)

 

Other menus have the same pecularities...

 

Then on the Dock if I right click on the finder it says: N80, N81, N82, N83, N84

 

Is my Finder corrupted? How do I get rid of this? It doesn't seem to effect anything else but is worrisome. Thanks.

iMac 2.6GHZ Intel, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Sep 30, 2011 12:25 PM

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Q: finder corrupt? - Strange characters in menu

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  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X Sep 30, 2011 8:27 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 8:27 PM in response to mudpize

    Ok, so now I would suspect a plist or cache (one that isn't cleared by safe mode).

     

    Try the caches first.  Probably the safest way to do this is to use an app like Onyx.  Download the version appropriate to your system.  Then use it's Cleaning tab to select various caches to clear (say stuff from User and Fonts).

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 30, 2011 8:41 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 10 (208,022 points)
    Applications
    Sep 30, 2011 8:41 PM in response to mudpize

    The Finder menu items are represented by alphanumeric codes that should be replaced by localized strings according to your language preference. For some reason, that isn't happening in your account, and you're seeing the codes themselves. It may be because something is wrong with your language setting.

     

    Open the Language & Text preference pane in System Preferences and select the Language tab.

     

    If you're in the U.S., drag U.S. English to the top of the language list. If it's already there, drag some other language to the top, close the pane, then open it again and drag U.S. English to the top and close it again.

     

    If you're not in the U.S., substitute the appropriate English variant.

     

    Log out, log back in, and check the Finder menus.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Sep 30, 2011 9:00 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 9:00 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I tried the switching languages & logged in and out and even restarted but the issue still persists. I'm downloading Onyx now.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Sep 30, 2011 11:10 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 11:10 PM in response to mudpize

    I ran through the cleaning tasks with Onyx and the issues still occur. I repaired permissions. I did that earlier with disc utility several times. It keeps saying it repairs these things but when I run and verify again it still shows these as issues and repaired. I'm enclosing two screenshots for examples to show you what I mean. It seems to be centered in CoreServices and Java. Any more ideas? This is really frustrating but I am so grateful for your help.

     

    Screen shot 2011-09-30 at 10.15.07 PM.png

    Screen shot 2011-09-30 at 11.04.01 PM.png

  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X Sep 30, 2011 11:50 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 11:50 PM in response to mudpize

    Don't worry about the repair permissions output.  You are always going to see a bunch.

     

    At this point I'm running out of ideas.  To summarize, you get the problem when:

     

    1. You boot in safe mode.  So that means it is not related to the various start up items.

    2. You cleared the relevant caches (hopefully).  So that is not the cause.

    3. You check language preferences and have the proper settings.

     

    The only stuff I think that's left are preference files (plists).  There's so many of those finding the bad one(s) is problematic.  Frankly the name of a plist that could screw up only Finder menus doesn't come to mind.  You already tried com.apple.finder.plist so that one is out of the running.

     

    Here's a radical suggestion/experiment:

     

    What if the entire ~/Library/Preferences directory was renamed and an empty one created in its place?  This might indicate if it is an errant plist for sure before trying to go out on a "search and destroy" mission (I like to call it that) trying to find a specific plist.

     

    My only concern is that caching might cause the bad plist to be recreated when you log out. 

     

    I would recommend you back up your entire system to another drive.  Then rename the Preferences directory on that backup and create the empty one in its place.  That gets around the caching concern.  I am assuming your home dir is on the same disk as your boot dir.  So now safe boot off the backup.  When you log into your account it won't have any plists in the Preferences and it will create new ones as needed.

     

    Note, because there aren't any preferences this might "break stuff" if you try to use that stuff.  That's why you need safe mode for booting.  You only want to use the account long enough to see if the finder menus are stilll screwed up.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Sep 30, 2011 11:48 PM in response to X423424X
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 11:48 PM in response to X423424X

    Okay so I would just rename the Preferences directory to take it out of the picture? A new one would be created in it's place and if everything works then it's a .plist in the original preferences directory? If so then I'd have to wade through the original destroying things? I think I can handle doing that...

     

    Just to bring something back here. If you can read this link, it is my issue exactly. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85009

     

    This is the only place I found something like this posted on a forum just like my issue. It is on an OSx86 forum. I never heard of OSx86 before, and if it's related to my issue I don't know how I got it except in something I downloaded I guess.

  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X Sep 30, 2011 11:54 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 11:54 PM in response to mudpize

    OSx86 been around for years.  An open source version of OSX mainly for hackintosh's.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Sep 30, 2011 11:59 PM in response to X423424X
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Sep 30, 2011 11:59 PM in response to X423424X

    Okay I'll try that tomorrow when I'm fresh. I've been banging my head against the wall about this all day. Thanks for your help.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 1, 2011 6:55 AM in response to mudpize
    Level 10 (208,022 points)
    Applications
    Oct 1, 2011 6:55 AM in response to mudpize

    Repairing permissions is a waste of time, and the error messages mean absolutely nothing.

     

    Please launch the Terminal application, copy or drag the following text into the window, and press return:

     

    defaults read -g AppleLanguages

        

    Post the lines of output, if any, that appear below what you entered. Then do the same with this line:
         
    defaults read -g AppleLocale
  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Oct 1, 2011 8:19 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Oct 1, 2011 8:19 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I've pasted the code from the terminal below. It looks okay. What about ds_store files? I read somewhere they can corrupt the finder. Would that be a next step?

     

    "en-US",

        en,

        fr,

        it,

        ja,

        de,

        es,

        nl,

        sv,

        nb,

        da,

        fi,

        pt,

        "zh-Hans",

        "zh-Hant",

        ko,

        pl,

        "pt-PT",

        ru

     

     

    defaults read -g AppleLocale

    en_US

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 1, 2011 9:07 AM in response to mudpize
    Level 10 (208,022 points)
    Applications
    Oct 1, 2011 9:07 AM in response to mudpize

    When you ran "Onyx," did you delete the LaunchServices database? I seem to remember it can do that, which is the only useful feature it has. If you didn't do that, please try it, then log out and log back in.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Oct 1, 2011 9:40 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Oct 1, 2011 9:40 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi,

    I tried rebuilding Launch Services as seen in the below screenshot. No result. Here are some of the other options in Onyx. Should I try some of these? Thank you!

     

    Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 9.37.05 AM.png

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 1, 2011 9:59 AM in response to mudpize
    Level 10 (208,022 points)
    Applications
    Oct 1, 2011 9:59 AM in response to mudpize

    None of that is applicable.

     

    This is at the point where I would almost have to go through your files one by one, which is obviously not practical. What I suggest is that you first make all files visible in the Finder, which Onyx may be able to do, and the free application TinkerTool (not "TinkerTool System") can certainly do.

     

    Then go through the subfolders of your Library folder (the one in your home folder), either one at a time or half at a time. Move them, or their contents, to the Desktop, then log out, log back in and test. If nothing has changed, put back the files you moved and try another set. By this method you should eventually find the offending file. Some items you can skip; for example, nothing in Library/Logs or Library/Mail can possibly be involved.

     

    It's a lot of work, but I don't have a better idea.

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Oct 1, 2011 10:10 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Oct 1, 2011 10:10 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Okay thanks. I'll try that later today. This is perplexing and frustrating. The fact that none of Microsoft Office will work either (only in this user) has me thinking somehow they are related. I've trashed some of those folders as well. Thanks for your hlep!

  • by mudpize,

    mudpize mudpize Oct 1, 2011 6:40 PM in response to mudpize
    Level 2 (155 points)
    Oct 1, 2011 6:40 PM in response to mudpize

    I used Tinker Tool to make everything visible. Put a folder on my desktop and moved several folders all at once to that folder. Logged out and back in. The issue still exists. In this process, I lost my keychains. I just manually restored all my mail passwords and the ones I used for Cyberduck. I've probably lost all my internet too.

     

    What next?

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