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Previewing .mov error

I have a Apple refurb iMac late 2013 running Yosemite 10.10.4 and I'm puzzled at the machine being unable to show a preview of short movie sequences (.mov) when the space-bar is hit.

The same movie files open OK on an MBA running same system.

Most of the time, at least 90%) after hitting the space-bar all I get is the spinning beach-ball followed by the dialog "An error occurred with the preview of this document "

Puzzling?

TonyTUser uploaded file

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 16GB RAM

Posted on Aug 4, 2015 4:38 AM

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6 replies

Aug 4, 2015 5:56 AM in response to Tony T

Launch the Console 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 and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take the action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

Aug 4, 2015 6:31 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hi and many thanks for your response.

Here's a selection of the text copied from Console. I hope I've selected relevant lines:-


Aug 4 14:27:45 TT com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.bird[38091]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Aug 4 14:27:45 TT com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.bird): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Aug 4 14:27:47 TT.lan WindowServer[181]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Finder" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

Aug 4 14:27:52 TT.lan QuickLookUIHelper[38092]: [QL] QuickLookUIHelper is stuck - force quit now

Aug 4 14:27:52 TT.lan WindowServer[181]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Finder" after 5.80 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)


Thanks,

TonyT

Aug 4, 2015 6:45 AM in response to Tony T

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 documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; 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, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup 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, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Aug 4, 2015 7:11 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks again, Linc.

Before I do what you suggest, here's some further info which may (or may not) help.

I've got a number of movie files in a number of folders. Going to a folder, then selecting a .mov randomly often creates the error reported which will be the case on several files within that folder. Suddenly, one .mov will run on hitting space bar. That seems to trigger a response allowing all movies in that folder to be previewed. Going to a different folder often, but not always, starts off similarly but, again, once one movie runs the rest follow suit.

Also, the size of the .mov seems irrelevant.

Well it's got me stumped... :-(

TonyT

Previewing .mov error

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