Mountain Lion: can't open Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane

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Level 1

18 points

Mountain Lion: can't open Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane

Hi guys,

I downloaded Mountain Lion this morning and am loving it. But I'm having a problem that so far I can't find anything about here or elsewhere on the web: I cannot open the Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane in System Preferences. Instead I get 1 of 2 error messages. The first says simply that it couldn't load this preference pane (see attached pic), while the second says it cannot open it because this service is not available on Intel-based Macs.

The weirdest thing is that I WAS able to open this pane at least once right after downloading ML. I know that it looks the same as this setting in the Settings iOS app, and I even unchecked some of the options for my gmail and exchange email accounts (chose not to sync notes, calendars, etc. with all those accounts since I just use iCloud now).

I've tried restarting System Preferences, and my computer, multiple times... no luck. Any ideas?!?

THANKS!
P.S.- I've got a mid-2009 MBP that meets the specifications for ML.

MacBookPro 13-inch, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jul 25, 2012 12:54 PM

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Answer 1

KLasc Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 25, 2012 6:08 PM in response to KLasc

Apparently I'm not the only one having this problem. just responded to commiserate with someone on mac rumors.

anyone else???

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1410961

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Answer 2

rkf

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2012 12:36 AM in response to KLasc

I have had a similar problems - says "Preference Pane must restart to access this" - like used to get with 32-64 bit switching - then just does nothing. Getting it with all sorts of panes - security - desktop.screensaver - but not all.

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Answer 3

KLasc Author

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18 points

Jul 26, 2012 9:14 AM in response to rkf

rkf:

I think you might be having a slightly different problem. Go to Finder and open your applications folder. Right click on System Preferences and select 'Get Info.' Uncheck 'Open in 32-bit mode,' or something like that. That seems to be solving some problems of a similar nature.

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Answer 4

KLasc Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 26, 2012 9:16 AM in response to KLasc

Unfortunately my above message does NOT solve my original Mail, Contacts and Calendars problem, which continues. Here's a pic of the other message I routinely received (below)...

Is anyone else having this problem???

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Answer 5

Jul 26, 2012 1:56 PM in response to KLasc

I've had the same problem with multiple prefs panes not opening and indeed I found that System Prefs was operating in 32 bit mode. Changed to 64 and all cured. Many thanks.

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Answer 6

rkf

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Jul 26, 2012 2:04 PM in response to KLasc

Many thanks from me as well - also just solved my problem :-)

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Answer 7

DPLUK

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2012 5:35 PM in response to KLasc

I have exactly the same problem - no idea how to solve it.

Just installed Mountain Lion this evening. I could access the pane.

Then after restarting, I couldn't.

First you get the 'not on an intel based mac' message, then the 'could not load' message.

What's the solution?!

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Answer 8

DPLUK

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0 points

Jul 28, 2012 3:47 AM in response to DPLUK

Have had a call with Apple Support.

Deleting the com files for system prefs in the user library didn't work.

Just reinstalled OSX - didn't work either. Same error messages.

Awaiting another call!

Anyone else find a solution?

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Answer 9

KLasc Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 28, 2012 4:40 AM in response to DPLUK

Still got nothing. I had also tried deleting the files to no avail. Good to know about the reinstall, though-- that was my next option!

Please do keep us posted about what you find out from Apple. Thanks!

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Answer 10

Jul 30, 2012 5:38 AM in response to KLasc

is there still no solution to this problem? no word from Apple?

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Answer 11

DPLUK

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Jul 30, 2012 6:58 AM in response to Robert Wosnitzer

Still working on it - have a call with senior support today. Will report back.

Have also told them about this thread, so hopefully they'll be watching it.

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Answer 12

Helzor

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Jul 30, 2012 8:09 AM in response to KLasc

I am having the same problem. Just upgraded to ML from Lion. 32/64 bits switch did not work.

Problems started when logging in to Twitter for the first time via Safari, and accepting the dialogue asking whether I wanted to make that Twitter account available for other applications. Now I can twit from the notification center, but cannot access Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane.

I assume it has something to do with Twitter plugin, but I have no clue on how to deactivate it...

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Answer 13

KLasc Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 30, 2012 10:35 AM in response to Helzor

I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with Twitter spectifically. I hadn't enabled my Twitter account yet when I first encountered the problem. In fact, that's one of the main reasons I so badly want to regain access to the Mail/Contacts/Calendars pane!

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Answer 14

Jul 30, 2012 11:08 AM in response to KLasc

Same problem here.

Started to happen after setting up my Twitter account.

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Answer 15

Jul 30, 2012 2:08 PM in response to KLasc

Well after about 45 minutes with Apple Tech Support, I was able to (re)establish access to the "Mail, Contacts, & Calendars" screen in System Preferences.

Neither the tech specialist nor myself are quite sure how we accomplished it, and I will try to retrace our steps here for those of you *still* experiencing the problem.

FYI this is a "user" problem, not a system problem; that is to say, if you create a new user (in System Preferences) with admin status, you should be able to access this setting under that (new) user account. Thus, we established that there is something funky going on under the user settings.

That being said, see if this works for you:

1. Go to your Library folder (Open Finder, then click "Go"; hold down 'option' key, and your Library should open)

2. In the Library folder, find your "preferences folder" and copy it to your desktop (click on a file, hit cmd-a, then copy, and paste to desktop)

3. Delete (move to trash) everything in your Library ---> "preferences" folder EXCEPT the following file:

com.apple.mail.plist.lockfile

4. Restart

5. Move everything back from the "preferences" folder on your desktop BACK to the Library ---> Preferences folder (remember: to access your Library folder, go to Finder, click on "Go" and hold down "option" key, and it will appear)

6. Restart

7. Open "System Preferences" and click on "Mail, Contacts, and Calendars" and you should be all set

You can now just delete the "preferences" folder from your desktop (only after being sure you've copied everything back to the Library ---> "preferences" folder; you can also empty the trash at this point, assuming all is working).

NOTE: I can't vouch for this working without any problem. If you're the least bit nervous or suspicious about this remedy, call Tech Support and I am sure they will walk you through this. I was on hold for about 1 minute, and although it was tedious to fix the problem, all was resolved in the end.

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