Can't open system preference panes after upgrading to El Capitan

Question

Level 1

138 points

Can't open system preference panes after upgrading to El Capitan

I ran the upgrade on my mid-2008 MacBook Pro to take it from Yosemite to El Capitan. I've had two major issues. First, El Capitan forgot all my e-mail passwords which I have tried to manually re-enter into Mail. But the more troubling problem is with System Preferences. When I try to change the loudness of sound on my MacBook Pro, it shows that the sound is muted and the screen flashes. I went to the Accessibility pane to try and turn off the flash and see if that would fix the sound, but the pane will not open. I click on it and after a period of several minutes, the OS responds that it cannot open the preference pane. I then tried to open the Sounds preference pane and the same thing happens...after several minutes, the OS says it cannot open the preference pane. I've tried re-starting the MacBook Pro to no avail. I see that system preferences cannot be repaired. I have no idea on how to fix the preference panes to open properly. I tried re-booting to the recovery partition and running Disk First AId. It found no problems, but it didn't fix anything either.

Any ideas on what I can try to get the functionality back on my machine?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 4 Gb of RAM

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 1:37 PM

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Answer 1

gilianne

Level 1

18 points

Apr 17, 2017 5:56 AM in response to gilianne

To clarify, this is the only step that resolved problems opening sounds and printers an and scanners for me in the system preferences:

Get Info, check 32 bit, close window, get info, uncheck 32 bit, repeat 2 mores times for a total of 3.

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Answer 2

Oct 1, 2015 1:43 PM in response to David Biddix

The problems with the System Preferences pane may be due to corrupted preferences due to the upgrade from Yosemite.

Open the Finder.

From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder

Type or copy paste the following:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist

Click Go then move the com.apple.systempreferences.plist file to the Trash.

Restart your Mac then try System Preferences.

If that didn't help, a Safe Mode boot deletes system caches that may help after an OS X upgrade.

Top left corner of your screen click the Apple  > Shut Down.

After your Mac shuts down, wait 10 seconds, then press the power button.

Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key. You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.

Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator.

Once you are in Safe Mode, go back to the Apple  menu. From the drop down menu click: Restart

Then try System Preferences again.

About Safe Mode

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Answer 3

bren_nan

Level 1

122 points

Oct 1, 2015 1:44 PM in response to David Biddix

The resolution found in the discussion thread below may be helpful for you.

Discussion Thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5290222?start=0&tstart=0

In the Finder, hold down the option key and select

Go > Library

from the menu bar. From the Library folder, delete the following item, if it exists:

"Caches/com.apple.systempreferences"

Move the following item to the Desktop: "Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist"

Launch System Preferences and test. If you still have the issue, put the item on the Desktop back where it came from and post again. Otherwise, delete the item.

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Answer 4

David Biddix Author

Level 1

138 points

Oct 2, 2015 11:54 AM in response to bren_nan

I've tried the fixes and am still having problems. I tried trashing preferences and re-starting my computer. I could access the sounds and they started working fine on my Mac. But when I open Mail, the computer's sounds stop working, the screen flashes (a la Accessibility settings) and when I try to open the Sounds or the Accessibility panes in System Presences, the system hangs and eventually after a few minutes tells me that the preferences pane I've requested can't be opened.

I also tried staring up in Safe Mode, then restarting the machine. Again, things work fine until I open the Mail program, then things stop working again.

I've been using Macs for 25 years and I've never had anything happen like this. What else could I try to fix this?

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Answer 5

bren_nan

Level 1

122 points

Oct 8, 2015 7:09 AM in response to David Biddix

You may find the steps suggested in this discussion thread helpful:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4274415

You already performed the safe mode steps but these steps provided by Linc Davis seemed to resolve the issue for the individual who posted the discussion question:

In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-A to open the Applications folder.
Select the System Preferences icon in that folder and press the key combination command-I to open the Info window.
There’s a checkbox in the Info window labeled Open in 32-bit mode. Uncheck it, if checked. Close the Info window and the Applications folder. Test.

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Answer 6

carms89

Level 1

14 points

Oct 8, 2015 7:08 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carolyn, The finder option didn't work for me but the safe boot did. (Copied below for clarity)

If that didn't help, a Safe Mode boot deletes system caches that may help after an OS X upgrade.

Top left corner of your screen click the Apple  > Shut Down.

After your Mac shuts down, wait 10 seconds, then press the power button.

Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key. You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.

Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator.

Once you are in Safe Mode, go back to the Apple  menu. From the drop down menu click: Restart

Reply

Answer 7

David Biddix Author

Level 1

138 points

Oct 8, 2015 7:17 AM in response to David Biddix

Just as an update to everyone...

I contacted Apple Support, and after testing with a new user account and trashing preferences, I think El Capitan has settled down and seems to be running better on my mid-2008 MacBook Pro. The machine does have issues after starting up from cold or via a reboot. System Preferences panes are sometimes unavailable for a period of time after the re-start, but they eventually work. I'm guessing that is due to the age of the machine. It is maxed out in RAM and has plenty of hard disk space, but it's still a seven year-old machine running a modern OS. I do have some software titles that have problems due to the new SIP settings to protect from malware, but I'm going to upgrade or change them out so I can use this new feature for protection.

I am pleased for the most part with El Capitan on this Mac and I thank Apple for keeping this computer current in terms of the OS for so long. The machine works well considering its age. It was retired as my daily driver for a machine about a year ago, but an unfortunate accident with coffee has rendered its replacement out of service until I can get together the money to get it fixed. I pressed the machine back into service and it has responded well to its ramp-up in usage.

Thanks to all who have given suggestions and assistance with this matter. I appreciate the Apple community for their commitment to helping each other with problems.

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Answer 8

Oct 18, 2015 11:14 AM in response to David Biddix

David,

I had the same problem today with Systems Preference after migrating to El Capitan. My steps were similar to the ones below, except that I have checked the 32 bit flag, close the systems preference, open it again, unchecked the box, close again, and on the 3rd time it worked, i.e. panes appearing:

In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-A to open the Applications folder.
Select the System Preferences icon in that folder and press the key combination command-I to open the Info window.
There’s a checkbox in the Info window labeled Open in 32-bit mode. Uncheck it, if checked. Close the Info window and the Applications folder.
SO MAYBE DOING IN 3 TIMES, whatever was holding in, was deleted. System working ok now

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Answer 9

David Biddix Author

Level 1

138 points

Oct 19, 2015 11:41 AM in response to David Biddix

Thanks for the 32-bit idea. The computer seems to have settled down somewhat with El Capitan, so I'm just watching things closely now to see where I'm still having problems with the upgrade, but for now, things seem to be running OK on this old, old MacBook Pro.

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Answer 10

Oct 19, 2015 4:27 PM in response to David Biddix

David,

I found a new bug today. The mail app is not working properly. It downloads the messages from my gmail and yahoo accounts but it is not possible to send any messages. It was working properly before the migration. The app says the box with SMTP info is not filled. Well, gmail is IMAP type and I had never experienced this bug.

Also I have experienced some "frozen periods" today. I am not sure if this is caused by iCloud drive uploading. If it is, there is no info this is happening.

cheers,

Abe

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Answer 11

Oct 19, 2015 4:31 PM in response to aberg2000

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Answer 12

jdlace

Level 1

4 points

Oct 19, 2015 6:52 PM in response to David Biddix

After upgrading to El Capitan, I'm also having Sys Pref issues. Booting into safe mode and restarting does nothing. I'm just wary to deleting any files. Will trashing a sys preference cache file cause problems?

Thanks

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Answer 13

Nov 10, 2015 5:45 PM in response to David Biddix

i am also having problems with System Preference panes that will not load or if they load, freeze (Network, especially), so that the only solution is to force quit. I have tried rebooting into safe mode, tested different profiles so know it is a system issue not just me as a user. I have upgraded to El Capitan (sorry, no back-up before but do have Time machine back ups). I tried the 32 bit alternative for System Preferences more than three times -no joy. I am looking for any ideas to unfreeze, as multiple reboots have also done nothing at all. If I have a network problem, I am stuffed, as I cannot access that area of Preferences at all and my ISP has consistency issues, so a problem in the network is a real possibility. Any newer ideas or experience that may help, please?

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