I can open the desktop through finder, but my desktop is blank and unresponsive. I have tried, restarting, rebooting, cleaning the plist, the .DS and even reinstalling my Mountain Lion. I installed the app pathfinder, which it said might cause problems to the finder, could it be? how can i fix it?
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)
Select the icon of the Desktop folder in the sidebar of a Finder window and open the Info dialog.
This is the info
When you say that your Desktop is "blank and unresponsive," what do you mean exactly? What are you unable to do?
Thank you very much for the help Linc Davis. Sorry if i take too long to answer, I thought I'd get somekind of notification if someone replied. But well.
There are no icons showing, folders, hd, anything. It's just the backgroun image and nothing else. And with unresponsive I mean when I right click nothing happens, no menu, nothing shows up. And usually when I click on the desktop the menu bar shows FINDER, insted you can see I clicked on the desktop and the the menu bar still says SAFARI. If somehow it helps. I tried creating a new user, and the desktop worked perfectly. Probably, the problem is in my preferences, but i don't know how to fix it. I tried using ONYX, DISK UTILITY, MOUNTAIN LION CACHE CLEANER and CLEAN MY DESKTOP, but still, nothing. PLEASE HELP!
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, or by a peripheral device.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.
Ok. In the first case (new user) the desktop worked perfecftly. All the icons where there, I could create new folders and it was perfectly responsive. In the second case (Safe Mode) the situation persisted. No icons nor folders in the desktop and it was still unresponsive.
Back up all data.
Step 1
Hold down the option key and select
Go ▹ Library
from the Finder menu bar. Move the following items from the Library folder to the Trash, if they exist:
Leave the Library folder open. Relaunch fhe Finder. If it works now, stop here. Close the Library folder.
Step 2
If you still have problems, move the following item from the open Library folder to another folder:
Relaunch the Finder again. If it now works, your settings will be lost. Recreate them.
If the issue is still not resolved, put the file you moved in step 2 back where it was. You don’t need to replace the items you moved to the Trash. Stop here and post your results.
Still with the same problem. There was no file in Cache/. I deleted the file in Saved Application State/. Nothing happened. Then went on to delete the fil in the Preferences/. and found this
There are two files. Could this be the source of the problem? I deleted both, relaunchd the finder. NOTHING. and then, went back to the folder, and both files where there again.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
ls -1A {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Fram,In,Keyb,Mail/Bu,P*P,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo}* 2> /dev/nullCopy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.
/Library/Components:
/Library/Frameworks:
AEProfiling.framework
AERegistration.framework
Adlm.framework
Adobe AIR.framework
AudioMixEngine.framework
EDWOCommon.framework
EDWOInternet.framework
GDAL.framework
GEOS.framework
GSL.framework
IntegoiCalFramework.framework
NyxAudioAnalysis.framework
PROJ.framework
PluginManager.framework
SQLite3.framework
TSLicense.framework
UnixImageIO.framework
iLifeFaceRecognition.framework
iLifeKit.framework
iLifePageLayout.framework
iLifeSQLAccess.framework
iLifeSlideshow.framework
iTunesLibrary.framework
/Library/Input Methods:
/Library/Intego:
IMailSenderTool
IntegoStatusItem.bundle
MIME.plist
TaskManager
integod
netupdated.bundle
virusbarrier.bundle
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
Disabled Plug-Ins
Flash Player.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin
GDL Web Plugin.plugin
Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin
JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin
SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin
Silverlight.plugin
flashplayer.xpt
googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin
iPhotoPhotocast.plugin
npContributeMac.bundle
npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin
nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt
o1dbrowserplugin.plugin
/Library/Keyboard Layouts:
/Library/PreferencePanes:
Flash Player.prefPane
Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane
Perian.prefPane
/Library/QuickLook:
GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator
GSQuickLook.qlgenerator
VMware Fusion QuickLook.qlgenerator
iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator
iWork.qlgenerator
/Library/QuickTime:
AC3MovieImport.component
AppleAVCIntraCodec.component
AppleHDVCodec.component
AppleIntermediateCodec.component
AppleMPEG2Codec.component
AppleProResCodec.component
DVCPROHDCodec.component
FCP Uncompressed 422.component
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component
IMXCodec.component
Perian.component
/Library/ScriptingAdditions:
Adobe Unit Types.osax
SIMBL.osax
/Library/Services:
VirusBarrier X5 Service.service
/Library/Spotlight:
GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter
GSMDimporter.mdimporter
LogicPro.mdimporter
Microsoft Office.mdimporter
iBooksAuthor.mdimporter
iWork.mdimporter
Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:
.DS_Store
AdiumAddressBookAction_AIM.scpt
AdiumAddressBookAction_ICQ.scpt
AdiumAddressBookAction_Jabber.scpt
AdiumAddressBookAction_MSN.scpt
AdiumAddressBookAction_SMS.scpt
AdiumAddressBookAction_Yahoo.scpt
SkypeABDialer.bundle
SkypeABSMS.bundle
Library/Input Methods:
.localized
Library/Internet Accounts:
V1
Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
ClickToFlash.webplugin
FacebookVideoCalling.bundle
fbplugin_0_1_6.plugin
Library/PreferencePanes:
.1D8034ED63DA6D97
.PE_mk2ZNQRthMITBbB0=
AirServer.prefPane
Uninstall SIMBL as follows. Back up all data before making any changes.
Triple-click the line below to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard (command-C):
/Library
In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V), and press return. A folder will open. From that folder, delete the items listed below (some may be absent.) You may be prompted for your administrator login password.
Log out and log back in.
Make sure you never reinstall SIMBL. It’s likely to come bundled with another third-party system modfication that depends on it. If you want trouble-free computing, avoid software that makes miraculous changes to other software, especially built-in applications. The only real exception to that rule is Safari extensions, which are mostly safe, and are easy to get rid of when they don’t work. SIMBL and its dependents are not Safari extensions.
Did just as you told me. Deleted all the files, except the one in InputManagers, the FOLDER didn't exist. But the rest was just as you told me. The problem persists, the desktop still blank and unresponsive.
Did you log out?
yes I did. and then tried a restart.
Something doesn't seem right about your screenshot of the Desktop. What are those light gray bars around the edges of the background image?
All the icons in my desktop are missing.