cannot select and move in mountain lion

Question

Level 1

5 points

cannot select and move in mountain lion

I am running 10.8.4 on an early 2009 15'' MBP, and I have been having issues where I cannot select an object (file or folder) and move it. This is affecting my other programs, for example, i find that I cannot select and move cursor in Maya.

Not sure why, has anyone seen this before? and can I fix it somehow? I tried restarting my computer multiple times but the problem presists.

thanks

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7), Unibody 15''

Posted on Jul 9, 2013 4:08 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jul 9, 2013 5:31 PM in response to OrangePanda

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads 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. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. 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 the test.

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Answer 2

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 9, 2013 6:37 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks Linc.

I tried the safe mode and was able to select and drag a folder around. However, i wasn't able to test if the problem with Maya has been fixed because it doesnt start in safe mode.

I am back in normal mode and the problem persists.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jul 9, 2013 6:48 PM in response to OrangePanda

Is Maya the only application affected?

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Answer 4

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 9, 2013 8:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

Maya is the only one that I have noticed. My guess is that it involves grabbing a manipulator handle and dragging it to move/scale/rotate the 3D object, same action as clicking and dragging a file around on desktop. I don't have other 3D software installed on this machine.

The problem has just resolved itself. I didn't restart after posting my reply above. I put it to sleep, went to dinner and opened it to write this reply. This is very frustrating as the problem just randomly pops up and incapacitates me (and my machine) for random amount of time before fixing itself!!! I am a student animator, being able to use Maya is essential to me. I'd love more insights to get to the bottom of this, even though it appears to be ok now.

Thanks, Linc

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jul 9, 2013 8:39 PM in response to OrangePanda

The problem seems to be isolated to Maya, which I know nothing about. Considering what you or your institution paid for that software, you should be entitled to support from the developer.

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Answer 6

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 9, 2013 9:09 PM in response to Linc Davis

the problem with maya is linked (as in it only happens) when the problem with click and drag appears. I think if i can fix the basic issue with the click and drag, then maya will fix itself.

do you have any insights as to why the click/ drag won't work in normal mode? though it worked fine in safe mode?

thanks Linc.

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Answer 7

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 9, 2013 9:20 PM in response to OrangePanda

btw, I just restarted my machine, and the problem came back...arrgh

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jul 9, 2013 11:02 PM in response to OrangePanda

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.

These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.

Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.

Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then copy it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

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.

When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.

Step 1

Triple-click the line of text below on this page to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}' | open -f -a TextEdit

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. You can then close the TextEdit window. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

{ sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|org\.(amav|apac|cups|isc|ntp|postf|x)/{print $3}'; sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook 2> /dev/null; } | open -f -a TextEdit

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Heed that warning, but don't post it. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.

Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}' | open -f -a TextEdit

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/{la,mach}* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts .la* 2> /dev/null | open -f -a TextEdit

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.

Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' | open -f -a TextEdit

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.

You can then quit Terminal.

Reply

Answer 9

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 10, 2013 8:42 AM in response to Linc Davis

here it is...

-------------------------------------------

Step 1

com.avatron.AVExVideo (1.7)

com.avatron.AVExFramebuffer (1.7)

-------------------------------------------

Step 2

com.autodesk.backburner_server

com.autodesk.backburner_manager

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent

com.google.keystone.daemon

com.autodesk.backburner_start

com.adobe.versioncueCS4

com.adobe.SwitchBoard

com.adobe.fpsaud

------------------------------------------

Step 3

com.wacom.wacomtablet

com.wacom.pentablet

com.google.keystone.system.agent

com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager

com.vladalexa.MagicPrefs

com.spotify.webhelper

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan

com.ecamm.printopia

com.akamai.single-user-client

-----------------------------------------

Step 4

/Library/Components:

/Library/Extensions:

/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adlm.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

HPDeviceModel.framework

HPPml.framework

HPServicesInterface.framework

HPSmartPrint.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.framework

SRFrameBufferConnection.framework

WacomMultiTouch.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework

/Library/Input Methods:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

.DS_Store

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

WacomNetscape.plugin

WacomTabletPlugin.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

huludesktop.webplugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

npContributeMac.bundle

npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

o1dbrowserplugin.plugin

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins (Disabled):

Flash Player.plugin

/Library/Keyboard Layouts:

/Library/LaunchAgents:

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.wacom.pentablet.plist

com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist

com.autodesk.backburner_manager.plist

com.autodesk.backburner_server.plist

com.autodesk.backburner_start.plist

com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

/Library/PreferencePanes:

Air Display Preferences.prefPane

Flash Player.prefPane

Growl.prefPane

PenTablet.prefPane

RemoteTap.prefPane

VersionCueCS4.prefPane

WacomTablet.prefPane

teleport.prefPane

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

Google Drive Icon Helper

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

/Library/QuickLook:

GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator

/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

MayaIFF.component

SoundboothScoreCodec.component

/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Adobe Unit Types.osax

BartenderHelper.osax

/Library/Spotlight:

GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter

/Library/StartupItems:

/etc/mach_init.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist

Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

AdiumAddressBookAction_AIM.scpt

AdiumAddressBookAction_ICQ.scpt

AdiumAddressBookAction_Jabber.scpt

AdiumAddressBookAction_MSN.scpt

AdiumAddressBookAction_SMS.scpt

AdiumAddressBookAction_Yahoo.scpt

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle

Library/Fonts:

Library/Frameworks:

EWSMac.framework

Library/Input Methods:

.localized

Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Library/Keyboard Layouts:

Library/LaunchAgents:

com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.XXX.plist

com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist

com.ecamm.printopia.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist

com.spotify.webhelper.plist

com.vladalexa.MagicPrefs.plist

Library/PreferencePanes:

AkamaiNetSession.prefPane

MagicPrefs.prefPane

Printopia.prefPane

-------------------------------------------

Step 5

Dropbox, Alfred 2, BambooCore

Reply

Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jul 10, 2013 8:48 AM in response to OrangePanda

Back up all data, then uninstall "Air Display" according to the developer's instructions. Reboot and test.

Reply

Answer 11

OrangePanda Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 10, 2013 12:03 PM in response to Linc Davis

Yup, that did it! uninstalled AIr display and restarted the machine. click drag problem went away and Maya works perfectly!

PHEW!

Thank you very much Linc! you are sooo awesome! 🙂🙂🙂

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