OSX Mavericks System Preference Pane Not Working

My apologies, no I didn't read the thread carefully enough and it looked to me like it was a menu bar extras issue.

macmark2 wrote:

One of the first things I do, after isolating that it's a user issue and not systemwide, is dump plists and cache. It's a pretty basic troubleshooting effort.

Now that's a bit of a shotgun "brute force" approach but it can work 😉

Apology most definitely accepted. 😀

And just to clarify -- I begin with the plists and cache of the offending app/service first -- then I move the entire folder out and if the issue is resolved I begin putting the plists back 10 at a time to find the corrupting presence.

No such luck this go around.

@macjack

Thank you for the help, but alas, as with macmark2, fix was a no-go 😟. These are the files that I removed (I just put them in my Documents folder for the time being as I've got about 1000 files that are currently being deleted and hogging up my trash bin - if I put anything in there while it's doing it's thing, the item just sits in it's current disk location waiting to move in to the trash bin. Also, didn't really want to delete them as I wasn't sure if your last entry in the directions was for the entire folder or just a file that was located in the Cache sub-folder. Since discovering and trying several remedies for the issue at hand, I've made a script (with Automator - was kind of neat doing something like that for the first time - LOL 😉) that will allow me to go in to the Apple Menu and toggle the folder hiding option on and off (mostly they're just left on as I've tried a BUNCH of fixes that have been posted around the web and support communities/forums for iMacs). Does it make a difference if I didn't actually put the items (show below) in the Trash? Should I restart after removing the files from their original locations before trying to launch the Preferences Pane for a test run?

As an aside to all of this: mostly not being able to access some of the secondary Preference options was just a minor annoyance - until earlier this evening. That's when I wanted to change my Yahoo! paid mail account over from IMAP to POP (there seems to be an issue with Mail under Mavericks that is causing IMAP from accounts other than Apple owned domain mail not to have rules applied to it when it is being brought in from the server; others are reporting that they are having the same issue with POP mail). Apparently when you use the Internet Accounts Preference Pane to set up your accounts for Mail, Contacts & Calendar integration, if you choose the Yahoo! option given for a Mail account, it auto configures the account as IMAP and not the usual POP configuration that something like Outlook would use. In order to set up a Yahoo! paid mail acct. as POP, you have to choose the Other Account option and then add in Incoming/Outgoing Server Settings manually. Problem is, I only have one Yahoo! paid mail account and so whenever I would add another account from the Mail Preferences menu, it would just associate the email address I was entering with the already configured Yahoo! Email Account and would not allow me to create a second Email Account with that same Yahoo! paid address even though it would have had POP settings instead of the IMAP "preset" settings. If I was able to access the secondary Internet Accounts Preference Pane, I could have either seen if there was Advanced Settings that I could change the IMAP server to POP (the instructions from Yahoo! indicated that there were) or delete the Yahoo! email address that is associated with my AppleID from the iMac and then reset up the account from scratch but using the POP settings for Mail with a manual configuration. Work around landed up entailing me using my daughter's Yahoo! email address (which isn't a paid POP forwarding email account) as a "new" additional Account in the Mail App. Then after getting it set up with the POP settings, disconnecting the "new" account by un-enabling it in the Mail Preferences menu. Disabling my IMAP Yahoo! acct, backing up the folders (Export) to my external hard drive (then unmounting it and pulling the USB connection), then changing the email address in the Preferences along with the password so that it can't connect to the Yahoo! Mail servers (just in case it got Enabled and Online again somehow). Save those settings then go into the "new" account and change that email address to the Yahoo! paid address that I just removed from the disabled IMAP acct; save these settings and then exiting out of Mail App completely. Restart Mail and at least my messages are now being sorted with rules applied to them, but I can't remove the IMAP acct. from Mail App as I need to go to the Internet Accounts Preferences to delete that acct. and remake it from scratch without choosing Mail as one of the items I want associated with that Intenet Account (due to it making any Yahoo! paid mail address being automatically set up as IMAP with no option to change it to a POP account in Mail App). What a royal pain in my (_|_)!!! 😢

Let me know if I should actually move those files to the Trash and/or restart and I'll give the fix another try 🙂

Peach

|Go to your Finder "Go" menu hold the option key to choose "Library"

|Then go to Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver.plist. Delete that file then log out and back in or restart. Your menu bar should return to default.

Thanks for the hint.
But nope, sorry didn't work either. Still the same crappy look of apple mail icons.

But that's just a minor problem as long at it keeps running.

But i really do get the impression that all preference problems here are closely interrelated. The other apple-mail problems (not mine) are related to the mysterious color space problem, too. I cannot slim down my system to the bare grounds to find out its just **** OSX problem that cannot be fixed by an end user like me.

Really getting the impression that this at best a Beta Version AND they knew it. That's why they didn't dare to charge for it. :-(

Stranger still... my icons don't look like that in Mail -- but today I see they look like that in Keynote...

The new Onyx was released today and I was hoping running that would fix whatever... It didn't.

Do you want to post the full etrecheck report macmark2?

It seems you have isolated the issue to your account, but not found out if a third party app/ modification is causing it.

I'd take a guess that the report might benefit from another pair of eyes looking at it.

I also wonder if Applications/Utilities/ColorSync Utility can help? Run the profile first aid to see if something has been carried over that the upgrade no longer supports.

Thanks, Drew. Tried the suggestion of ColorSync Utility. That was a good one and thought it might be the answer. It did find some errors. Fixed the errors, but it didn't solve the problem.

Here's the etrecheck:

Kernel Extensions:

at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4052)

com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.2)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1)

net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio (1.0.6)

com.nvidia.CUDA (1.1.0)

com.github.osxfuse.filesystems.osxfusefs (2.5.5)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist

[loaded] com.ambrosiasw.ambrosiaaudiosupporthelper.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.autodesk.backburner_manager.plist

[loaded] com.autodesk.backburner_server.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.helper.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

[loaded] com.nvidia.CUDASoftwareUpdate.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.bitcasa.Bitcasa.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.CrashAnalyzerLogWatcher.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.PreferenceManagerAutoSave.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck.plist

[failed] com.erikhinterbichler.HeraldLaunchAgent.plist

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

HazelHelper

Dropbox

BuddyPop

Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX

ExpanderDaemon

SMARTReporter

TotalFinder

3rd Party Preference Panes:

CUDA Preferences

Flash Player

Hazel

Hosts

Java

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect.plugin

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101736.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OnLiveGameClientDetector.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

Unity Web Player.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Any new thoughts would be very, very welcome! 😢

Look at these items…

macmark2 wrote:

Kernel Extensions:

at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4052)

com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.2)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1)

net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio (1.0.6)

com.nvidia.CUDA (1.1.0)

com.github.osxfuse.filesystems.osxfusefs (2.5.5)

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist

[loaded] com.ambrosiasw.ambrosiaaudiosupporthelper.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.autodesk.backburner_manager.plist

[loaded] com.autodesk.backburner_server.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.noiseindustries.FxFactory.helper.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

[loaded] com.nvidia.CUDASoftwareUpdate.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.bitcasa.Bitcasa.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.CrashAnalyzerLogWatcher.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.PreferenceManagerAutoSave.plist

[loaded] com.digitalrebellion.SoftwareUpdateAutoCheck.plist

[failed] com.erikhinterbichler.HeraldLaunchAgent.plist

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

HazelHelper

Dropbox

BuddyPop

Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX

ExpanderDaemon

SMARTReporter

TotalFinder

3rd Party Preference Panes:

CUDA Preferences

Flash Player

Hazel

Hosts

Java

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect.plugin

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101736.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OnLiveGameClientDetector.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

Unity Web Player.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Any new thoughts would be very, very welcome! 😢

You'll need to be admin to remove the system level items, so don't be surprised by the password prompts.

I'd start with the kernel extensions - do you need them? The inject & alter low level code, so there needs to be a really good reason for them otherwise your system is built on shaky ground. Make sure they are all up to date if you need them, otherwise move them out of /Library/Extensions/ & reboot.

Then move onto the Agents and Daemons, it you don't know what they are try reversing the domain & seeing if you recognise why they might be installed. eg com.bombich.ccc.plist is from http://bombich.com (carbon copy cloner). Is that upto date? I guess you schedule backups?

Some of them are to allow apps to auto update (Adobe & Google like to push you onto the latest releases). You can remove them if you want but the apps will try to restore them when they run.

The files that create the tasks (Agents and Daemons) will be in the /Library & ~/Library inside LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons folders. You can also delete them if you don't want them to run.

If the issue is 100% only happening in your account, you need to look at all the user level Agents, Daemons

This explains the difference between them, obviously leave Apples own ones ALONE.

http://krypted.com/mac-security/mac-os-x-launch-daemons-vs-launch-agents/

The failed agent "[failed] com.erikhinterbichler.HeraldLaunchAgent.plist" is troubling, why is it failing, it suggest that software is doing something wrong (like forking off a new process or hanging etc). Update or remove it.

Unloaded files are not doing anything bad, but you don't need the .plist around if you never use it.

Also rinse & repeat the "is it up to date/ remove" process on all those user login items (they will be listed in the System prefs > User accounts, select your username > Login items.

The same goes for all the third party pref panes (Library/PreferencePanes). Especially check CUDA - isn't that graphics related, it might affect rendering somehow?

You also have several Flash & Acrobat PDF plugins versions for Safari. That may be an issue too, they live in the internet plugins folders inside the Libraries. Move them to another folder if you want to keep them incase you need them, chances are you will be better off without them & only install when you come to need them. Also check any browser extensions inside Safari.

I can't see anything that is a massive concern (aside from the kernel extensions), and the fact you have a lot of processes that will all compound errors when problems occur.

same issue here, just starting to investigate what's wrong

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB

Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0

AirPlay: Version: 1.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3

Startup Items:

CiscoVPN - Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

chmodbpf - Path: /Library/StartupItems/chmodbpf

FanControlDaemon - Path: /Library/StartupItems/FanControlDaemon

HWNetMgr - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

IPSecuritasDaemon - Path: /Library/StartupItems/IPSecuritasDaemon

M-Audio Firmware Loader - Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio Firmware Loader

MAudioTransitUSB - Path: /Library/StartupItems/MAudioTransitUSB

StartOuc - Path: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc

tap - Path: /Library/StartupItems/tap

tun - Path: /Library/StartupItems/tun

System Software:

OS X 10.9 (13A603) - Uptime: 0 days 9:0:52

Disk Information:

M4-CT512M4SSD2 disk0 : (512,11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

Macintosh SSD (disk0s2) /: 511,25 GB (143,12 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

WDC WD7500BPKT-00PK4T0 disk1 : (750,16 GB)

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1s2) /Volumes/Macintosh HD: 749,81 GB (271,76 GB free)

USB Information:

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

NSI WD2009FYPX-09AAM 2 TB

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

TimeMachine (disk2s2) /Volumes/TimeMachine: 2 TB (612,73 GB free)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

ASIX Elec. Corp. AX88179

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-5163D Super Multi DVD Rewriter

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (3.0.6)

org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (3.0.6)

com.manycamllc.driver.ManyCamDriver (0.0.9)

foo.tap (1.0)

foo.tun (1.0)

com.sophos.kext.sav (8.0.14)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist

[not loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShareServer.launchd.plist

[loaded] com.ipass.monitordaemon.plist

[loaded] com.m-audio.usb.firmwareloader.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.sns.globalSAN.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.autoupdate.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.intercheck.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.notification.plist

[loaded] com.stclairsoft.AppTamerAgent.plist

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist

[loaded] net.interacto.flavours.helper.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist

[not loaded] com.cooliris.SetLaunchArch.plist

[loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.uiserver.plist

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist

[loaded] net.interacto.flavours.agent.plist

[loaded] net.interacto.flavours.bg.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[failed] com.macupdate.desktop5.scanner.plist

[loaded] com.propaganda.dejavu.dvmonitor.plist

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist

[loaded] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

User Login Items:

Plantronics

GrowlMenu

Dropbox

Microsoft Database Daemon

Alfred

Cinch

GetBackupAgent

Smart Scroll

SplashID Safe

Mac_SwapperDemon

iPass Open Mobile

RealPlayer Downloader Agent

Cisco Jabber

HoudahSpotHelper

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Akamai NetSession Preferences

BlueHarvest

Fan Control

Flash Player

Flip4Mac WMV

Growl

Java

Launch Webex

MAudioTransitUSB

MacFUSE

Media Importer

Perian

Plantronics

Secrets

SLNTFS

Smart Scroll

Tuxera NTFS

WinShortcutter

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

CoolirisWebKitPlugin.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

eMusic.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

GarminGpsControl.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

Yahoo! Installer.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

OctoshapeWeb.plugin

WebEx.plugin

WebEx64.plugin

Bad Fonts:

None

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 749,81 GB Disk used: 478,05 GB

Macintosh SSD: Disk size: 511,25 GB Disk used: 368,13 GB

Destinations:

Untitled [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2 TB

Total number of backups: 11

Oldest backup: 2013-10-16 18:56:16 +0000

Last backup: 2013-11-02 18:35:44 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 2 TB < (Disk used 846,17 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:

110% InterCheck

22% repair_packages

3% mds

2% WindowServer

1% EtreCheck

1% RealPlayer Downloader Agent

1% Disk Utility

0% Microsoft Word

0% SkyDrive

0% blued

Top Processes by Memory:

439 MB repair_packages

426 MB mds_stores

410 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

328 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

295 MB Finder

213 MB Microsoft Outlook

164 MB InterCheck

164 MB WindowServer

147 MB softwareupdated

115 MB Safari

Virtual Memory Statistics:

4.50 GB Free RAM

5.18 GB Active RAM

4.48 GB Inactive RAM

1.83 GB Wired RAM

1.79 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Jeepers do you need all those startup items?

They have been deprecated since 10.3 according to the developer docs…

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPSystem Startup/Chapters/StartupItems.html

It suggests you have a lot of old software (or software from developers that don't follow guidelines).

Remove them from /Library/StartupItems/

The kernel extensions also alter low level system operations, so get rid of them or ensure they are all up to date.

They are in /Library/Extensions/

I would also remove all the login items so you can login without a dozen items all starting. Update them if you need them. They are managed in System Preferences > Users & groups > Select your username > Login items tab.

Also all the /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Library/LaunchDaemons/ could be pruned back too, unless you need them & they are up to date. Don't forget the ones inside your home directory too. use the Finders Go menu > Go to Folder… ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

Personally I'd consider a clean install, you have what appears to be a lot of old stuff to clean up. Sometimes a fresh start is the fastest way to get a working system, especially if you don't reininstall until you need something.

Make sure you have a backup before you begin & you can either delete these items, or move them into folders incase you want to restore them. It's probably worth looking for uninstallers to remove any items that install in multiple locations (like pref panes & whatever they control).

Don't forget to reboot to make the system changes take effect.

I am having this issue as well, and I am finding very similar logs as other suers have mentioned. For example, clicking "Advanced" under Wireless Network in the System Pane logs this:

I can say that I have only had this machine for a few months, coming from a clean Mountain lion install back in June or so. Hardly any startup or other apps installed. Just development stuff. I have doubts this is the issue.

We do use Centrify at work to hook into AD. Unsure if that may be part of the cause. Other people have upgraded with no issues, though.

Okay, I was able to get everything working when I run the System Preferences app as root, which leads me to believe this is a user-config issue.

Why are you running System Preferences as root!

Your system sounds messed up & you are also doing very risky things to try to fix it !

Please just post an EtreCheck report, we will point to any warning signs. Or you can continue taking wild guesses at what is wrong.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

I was just testing to ensure that it was a user issue. I know well enough to not change anything. I can take care of myself. 😉 Thank you for your concern, though.

I was able to get it working. Seems some config database for network was corrupted, inaccessible, or something else. Here is what I did:

cd /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

sudo mv NetworkInterfaces.plist NetworkInterfaces.plist.bak

sudo mv preferences.plist preferences.plist.bak

I rebooted, and everything is back to working again.

But Drew is right. Don't go mucking around in system stuff unless you are prepared to fix what you break!