Archive Utility freezes when trying to unzip a zip file

Brian Brumfield wrote:

I am having the same issue. Looks like repairing permissions and restarting is the fix.

Seen here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4381241?start=0&tstart=0

This worked!!

Just opened Disk Utility, chose my boot disk, and then under First Aid, clicked "Repair Disk Premissions" - Reboot and works perfect.

vimpertor wrote:

Brian Brumfield wrote:

I am having the same issue. Looks like repairing permissions and restarting is the fix.

Seen here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4381241?start=0&tstart=0

This worked!!

Just opened Disk Utility, chose my boot disk, and then under First Aid, clicked "Repair Disk Premissions" - Reboot and works perfect.

Repaired the permissions. (even though there was nothing repaired)
Renamed ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.archiveutility.plist to FILE.EXT.bup

Once I restarted, archive.utility worked. *NOTE - a new .plist was auto-created*

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OS X 10.8.2 (12C60)

Mac mini Mid 2011

Message was edited by: StatikBit

I too am experiencing the same issue since moving to Mountain Lion. As Keith says, Stuffit Expander does work on every file that Archive Utility freezes on, which rules out file corruption as the problem.

I had the problem with the Archive Utility as described above. Deleting the preferences file did the trick for one file. Then, it froze again. Repairing the permissions eliminated the problem completely. Thanks for the tip.

I am having same issue with Archive Utility. Tried fixes listed below, but nothing has worked. It consistently freezes while unarchiving, requiring me to Force Quit the application. My files that I compress using Archive Utility do open correctly using Stuffit expander.

Killing appleeventsd is the solution. It'll respawn the moment Archive Utility is launched so no worries.

This is certainly the reason rebooting also solves the problem but that's always an incredibly poor solution to such a problem. Unix was designed not to have to be restarted and should rarely be a solution to a problem.

Thanks Sebastien!!

Only thing that I've found that works consistently is repairing permissions. Incidentally, there are utilities you can set & forget that will start up while we sleep and do this at set intervals.

In the meantime, I LOVE this free utility on the Apple Store that has been unpacking EVERYTHING for me on the Mac for years - The Unarchiver. Does stuffit files, .rar torrent files, .zips of course - you name it.

http://unarchiver.c3.cx/unarchiver

(and no, I do not work for them - but this app works for me)

All you need to do is go to: ~/Library/Preferences/ (⇧⌘G)

find and delete this plist: com.apple.archiveutility.plist

Restart your mac.

Try any zip, Enjoy!

Dont worry, system will generate new plist

Repairing permissions AND rebooting indeed did the trick on my new laptop.

Just repairing permissions without reboot (which I first tried) is not enough.

But just in case (as some people report), you need to do this process repeatedly, I have downloaded the free stuffit expander, which has always worked flawlessly for the last 10 years or so.

Same problem here. Deleting the plist didn't work, but killing appleeventsd did — at least for this time.

I'd want to add that there seems to be another symptom: opening a Finder search window from a Spotlight search didn't work either until I killed/restarted the events daemon (which sounds plausible).

As killing the process is clearly a quick temporary fix for the current session, I'll see if deleting the plist and repairing permissions will help permanently. Otherwise, let's hope this gets fixed in an OS X update soon.

sk2001 wrote:

I'd want to add that there seems to be another symptom: opening a Finder search window from a Spotlight search didn't work either until I killed/restarted the events daemon (which sounds plausible).

Just wanted to add a data point that I have also experienced both the unzip hang and the inability to open Finder window from Spotlight search, simultaneously. Rebooting has been a temporary fix for me, but what I am learning from this thread is that I probably won't have to reboot if I kill the processes that have been mentioned.

I was having the same issue. Much searching on the internet I finally found a reliable "workaround". It seems to be triggered by a bug in Apple Events Daemon. Once the bug triggers opening any zip file fails. Restarting the computer always worked for me. However the actual workaround is much simpler.

Open Activity Monitor in the Applications/Utilities folder. Search for appleeventsd select the process and press the big red Quit button, when it asks you select force quit. That's it. Try to open the zip file again.

I have searched so many times so many places I lost track of the original poster of this solution.

Open Activity Monitor in the Applications/Utilities folder. Search for appleeventsd select the process and press the big red Quit button, when it asks you select force quit. That's it. Try to open the zip file again.

Worked for me. Haven't verified if it prevents the issue from returning, but it did alleviate the issue at the time.

Tried BOTH repair disk perms AND delete pref file .. didnt work.

Putting my seasoned (read: old) developer hat on for a moment, the unarchiver shouldnt hang even IF permissions are wrong or the plist is broken. THis bug has been around since before Lion, Apple have shipped TWO major releases and several minor releases WITHOUT fixing this bug. I seem to recall another large software company that stopped fixing bugs in it's OS too ... wonder what happened to them?

Open a new Terminal window and type the following command:

sudo killall appleeventsd

- and voila! The "Utility" in "Archive Utility" has been returned. I myself am not versed in Unix/OSX command line operations - I found this solution on another site, so I'm not exactly sure how it works. However, it's been a success every time I've used it, and has proven helpful for other applications as well.

Occasionally, for example, I'll be listening to music, gaming, or watching a movie using headphones and all sound issuing from my MBP will cut out (it's an issue with Google Chrome in particular). I tried killing that same process (appleeventsd). Instant fix, no restart, or even wait time, necessary.

Hopefully this solved your problem! Although I would be interested in knowing just what the fix is/does.