Q: Video thumbnails scrambled, won't playback (v3.4.3)
My video thumbnails in Aperture (version 3.4.3) are scrambled. Sometimes I can see part of a reference thumbnail frame (often in monochrome or with a single color overlay, like green), sometimes it's just all snow.
1) I just restored my mac mini from a time machine backup.
2) I also just imported an iPhoto library
If I browse to a pre-existing (before Time Machine restore) Aperture project, the correct thumbnail appears briefly before changing to the scrambled version.
When I select the video for playback all I get is a blank Viewer window (not video content, no controls, no playback).
If I browse to the source file via finder the video thumbnail displays and the video plays back correctly.
I have tried:
1) verifying and repairing disk permissions
2) repairing Aperture permissions
3) repairing the Aperture database
4) rebuilding the Aperture database
5) regenerating thumbnails (select video Photos->Regenerate Thumbnails) (thumbnail changes, still scrambled)
I don't use Aperture often so I'm not 100% sure when this started, but it seems to be after this current restore as supported by the brief correct appearance of old video thumbnails before they update to the scrambled version.
OS X 10.8.2
Aperture 3.4.3
Example of affected video:
IMG_0002.MOV
QuickTime movie
5MB
640x480
Duration: 00:11
Capture Source: iPhone 3GS
Posted on Jan 12, 2013 10:09 PM
Thanks leonieDF, the support threads you referenced led me to the solution.
For some reason the com.apple.xpchelper.cache file was missing in my /System/Library/Caches folder. Thankfully someone had posted the file to dropbox and shared on the thread. Adding the file to my folder and rebooting solved the problem.
Others reported re-installing Mountain Lion from the recovery partition fixed the issue as well, likely re-installing this file in the process. It makes me uncomfortable to find my Time Machine recovery didn't fully recover the OS so I'm going to re-install Mountain Lion just to be safe.
For reference, here is the dropbox link to the missing file:
Posted on Jan 13, 2013 10:06 AM