TwickersJohn

Q: Preview will not display images on removeable drive

Preview will not display images from a removable hard drive and displays the catherine wheel.  Also it will not display any images on the fixed drive after attempting to display images on the removable drive.

 

If I force Preview to quit and then display images from the fixed drive it works, but only if i stick to the fixed drive.

The thumbnails on the removable drive show up fine in Finder and images on it can be displayed by other utilities such as Firefox, Safari, XnView.

 

If I copy an image from the removable drive to the hard drive then Preview will display it.

 

I am using OS X 10.8.5 (12F2560).

 

All advice gratefully received.

 

John

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Aug 15, 2016 6:09 AM

Close

Q: Preview will not display images on removeable drive

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,Apple recommended

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 15, 2016 7:34 AM in response to TwickersJohn
    Level 9 (69,803 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 15, 2016 7:34 AM in response to TwickersJohn

    Try a restart.

     

    Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

     

    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

     

    Isolating an issue by using another user account

     

    If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

                   

    Safe Mode

  • by TwickersJohn,

    TwickersJohn TwickersJohn Aug 17, 2016 12:12 PM in response to TwickersJohn
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2016 12:12 PM in response to TwickersJohn

    Before I discovered that it was only images on the removable drive I googled this problem and a much early solution to this type of problem was to delete ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview.  I did this and it didn't have any effect (the fix didn't state if there was any need to restart).  After I discovered it was only the removable drive I realised that I hadn't tried a reboot so I did a complete power down and reboot.  The problem has now gone away.

  • by TwickersJohn,

    TwickersJohn TwickersJohn Aug 17, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks Eric,  didn't see your reply before I posted my update.  I must have missed the email notification.  I will bear your help in mind if it happens again.

     

    Regards,

    John

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 18, 2016 8:40 AM in response to TwickersJohn
    Level 9 (69,803 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 18, 2016 8:40 AM in response to TwickersJohn

    You are welcome. I'm glad it was an easy fix.