Finder refresh issues and Time Machine drive icon

Question

Level 1

108 points

Finder refresh issues and Time Machine drive icon

I've noticed that after rebooting my Mac Pro, the icon for my internal Time Machine drive won't change from the generic icon to the TM icon automatically. It used to do so before Yosemite, so this problem began after upgrading to Yosemite, and so far has carried over to El Capitan.

What I've observed is the following:

When a scheduled Time Machine backup occurs, the drive's icon will change in the Finder, but not on the desktop. Viewing the drive's info also shows the correct Time Machine icon. In order for the icon to change on the desktop, I have to restart the finder. So, my assumption is that the finder isn't automatically refreshing itself. FWIW, folder icons also don't refresh after batch copying a lot of files and folders from one drive to another.

I've trashed the Finder preference file and rebooted but that hasn't resolved the issue. This issue isn't that troublesome, but it is annoying that I can't seem to resolve it.

Any thoughts?

2008 Mac Pro 2.8 GHz 8 core, Mac OS X (10.6.1), Also have a G4 MDD 1.25DP

Posted on Oct 18, 2015 1:19 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 10, 2015 5:28 PM in response to amstel78

Just updated to OS X 10.11.2. Issue still persists.

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2016 11:43 AM in response to The Dark Knight

Problem persists with 10.11.3

Finder Refresh will change the icon

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Answer 3

Feb 12, 2016 4:36 PM in response to The Dark Knight

As for me I have the same problem for Aliases icons and not only on my desktop, but also in folders as well as with external TM drive.

I think it was introduced before El Capitan for TM and with El Capitan for the aliases (my 10.11.3 (15D21) version doesn't change a thing)

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Answer 4

Genex17

Level 1

18 points

Feb 20, 2016 12:48 AM in response to R C-R

Just curious. It is annoying to get the generic icon for TM, but it does not affect TM's backup functions. Is that correct?

Gene

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Answer 5

Feb 25, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Genex17

Yes, that's correct at least in my case. Some users had other issues with hourly backups not working automatically, but I think that was related to other issues.

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Answer 6

Apr 4, 2016 7:07 PM in response to amstel78

Okay, so I found a fix that worked for me after I've tried every single fix proposed on here. What I did was look up the icon logo in the Resources folder:

/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/

Once there scrolling down one should find the GenericTimeMachineDiskIcon.icns file, open it. Then while in preview Edit > Copy.

Now right click on your disk file on desktop or in finder and use the Get Info method, and your copied icon should be in clipboard now so in top corner click the annoying yellow logo and then Edit > Paste... OCD gone, life can go on ✅

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Answer 7

Genex17

Level 1

18 points

Apr 4, 2016 8:50 PM in response to TankHatesYou

Well, it won't let me give you a star even though I'm logged in, so I'll just say "You're a Star!" and let you know it worked as advertised and even given a restart.

For the sake of those who don't know, right-click or Ctrl-click on

CoreTypes.bundle and

select "Show Package Contents" from the context menu to see the Contents/Resources folder where the GenericTimeMachineDiskIcon.icns file is.

Having a generic icon for TM just didn't set well with me.

Saved to Notes for future generations.

Great under the hood detective work! 😀

Gene

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Answer 8

Apr 9, 2016 7:52 PM in response to amstel78

If i'm reading this latest reply correctly, it's just a round about way to copy and paste an icon. It doesn't fix the dynamic feature of the Time Machine Icon (ie. change when a backup is complete).

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Answer 9

modingo

Level 1

4 points

Apr 24, 2016 6:37 PM in response to amstel78

Using gfs2008's solution of going to Get Info and adding user and read/write permissions in combination with Force-Quitting the Finder and running a manual Time Machine backup brought back the Time Machine icon for the external drive used for backups.

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