Blurry/Scrambled Finder text & buttons

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Blurry/Scrambled Finder text & buttons

Here's a screenshot of my issue that's been going on for 2 years now (copy-past this URL into another window):

http://www.use.com/Blurry_finder_text_7e7bfe597ea1c28b949a

This has happened on two different MacBook Pros. I've done everything from a full-wipe & clean install. Had the hardware tested at the Apple Store. Tried various GPU settings (Better Performance vs. Engery Saving in Preferences)... you name it, this still keeps happening.

It doesn't happen all the time and there's absolutely no ryhme or reason as to what causes it. Thought it might be due to heating (like when Final Cut does a render) but sometimes it starts up even after being idle for a while.

Logging out or forcing any kind of full-screen refresh clears the issue, but eventually it will come back.

The Genius Bar suggests this is a FONT issue caused by an application that's been loaded. Problem is, I can't figure out a way to suss out which application could be the culprit. And I'm not 100% buying into that explanation since all apps I have are specifically written for Snow Leopard - or higher.

Anyone seen this problem and have a solution?

Posted on Aug 22, 2012 8:39 AM

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Answer 1

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Robert Lane AZ Author

Level 1

145 points

Aug 23, 2012 7:36 AM in response to Robert Lane AZ

It's possible I've found a fix:

Although I always do routine maintenance on my systems, I rarely if ever use the "clean font cache" feature to prevent apps like Adobe from rebuilding their font database every time they launch.

However this may well be the core of the problem. I've now used both ONYX and TinkerTool to clear the font cache on the machine and so far things are looking good.

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Answer 2

Nov 22, 2012 8:26 AM in response to Robert Lane AZ

Unfortunately this didn't end up being a complete fix. I think it's a software bug in OSX 10.6 and earlier.

I recently migrated to Mountain Lion and so far I have not seen this blurry icon/finder text issue yet. Could be with the new code in 10.8 they addressed that issue.

I'm not 100% convinced that upgrading to ML was the fix but will update the forum after the holidays if in fact things remain stable.

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