Blue Beach Ball / Pinwheel When Using "Open With"

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Blue Beach Ball / Pinwheel When Using "Open With"

I've noticed since upgrading to Mountain Lion that I get a dual-shade blue/light blur spinning pinwheel / beach ball. This is different to the "normal" rainbow wheel that I'm used to. I read on a disreputable thread that this may have to do with the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive but haven't been able to confirm that in any other way. Any ideas on what's causing this? My thought is that it may have something to do with the Adobe Creative Suite I have installed or Java, but I have not been able to confirm that either.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion, 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM

Posted on Aug 9, 2012 8:50 AM

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Answer 1

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macjack

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Aug 9, 2012 8:56 AM in response to markduchamp

Try starting up in Safe Mode (It will take more time to startup because it runs a directory check.) Test your "Open With" function. Does it work correctly in Safe Mode?

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Answer 2

markduchamp Author

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Aug 9, 2012 9:27 AM in response to macjack

It does work correctly in safe mode — I'm no longer seeing the dark blue/light blue beach ball/pinwheel.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Aug 9, 2012 9:37 AM in response to markduchamp

Sounds like an incompatible Login Item. Remove your Login Items in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items, boot normally and test.

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Answer 4

Sep 11, 2012 7:05 AM in response to macjack

I'm having the same issue when using "open with" function. I've removed all my login items but still no luck.

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated.

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Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 11, 2012 8:19 AM in response to dandeadman

It may be LaunchServices. These are only cache files but can get corrupted. Launch /Utilities/Terminal and copy & paste this at the command line to rebuild LaunchServices: (be sure to copy the entire line it's a scroll)

Code:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Then press return. Wait until terminal returns to the command line. Quit Terminal. After that, log out and back in or restart. Let us know

Or, use the free utiltiy OnyX to do the same via gui

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Answer 6

Sep 11, 2012 8:47 AM in response to macjack

Fantastic, that seems to have done the trick! Thank you very much!

What are these LaunchServices and what do they do?

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Answer 7

macjack

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Sep 11, 2012 8:50 AM in response to dandeadman

As I said, they are only cache files but control some aspects of the GUI like contextual menu items.

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Answer 8

Sep 11, 2012 8:56 AM in response to macjack

Thanks very much for your help. It seems that VMware Fusion is causing the issue - as over time the open with list gets larger and larger with several repeated items of applications from Windows virtual machines that I have stored on my mac. Guessing that's the next point to look at :-)

Thanks again.

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