Tiny system font size disaster

Well, as mentioned, merely by following Kurt's advice and holding the Shift key when starting, the FontBook was reset and everything is back to it’s original state again, so work is back to normal.

I have learned in the process that Time Machine would have been overly complex or even useless in reverting the stupid changes which El Capitan took the liberty to make after I had selected 'Yes, OS, correct the faults automatically'. I will be transitioning away from Time Machine and build on my arsenal of other back other methods.

Most importantly, I have discovered how font management can affect seriously the functionality of the Mac. I had never even used FontBook before!

During validation of the fonts, I discover only one has serious error; MT extra.

Clearly, this needs to be attended to first.

481 fonts passed (Kurt will be shuddering that I have so many, which I too am certain are unnecessary) and 49 fonts have minor problems. One of them is Tahoma:

And Tahoma bold:

These will be my second priority as they are used in a critical app.

Once I manage to digest the available information on the best way to solve these, I can progress. Thanks again for the help so far.

1. I got the OS on a USB and tried to installed Tahoma Bold using Pacifist, but it got stuck.

2. The MT Extra mistakes are shown below and I think this should have priority, being the only font flagged red.

Kurt, do you suggest that I just trash MT Extra from within the FontBook app?

I remember that a previous OS had a test version of MS Office for Mac (which I think I looked at) but uninstalled again. That was probably the original source of these 2 fonts. Going forward though, I did see that I have the following Tahoma fonts:

Normal (flagged as duplicate) /library/fonts/tahoma.ttf

Regular /users/username/library/fonts/tahoma (without extension)

Bold /users/username/library/fonts/tahoma (without extension)

Negreta (flagged as duplicate) /library/fonts/tahoma bold.ttf

Thanks

Thanks, trashing MT Extra was no problem.

This is what I see with Tahoma however:

TypeBook flags the older versions without extensions as being the good ones. If I click through to individually manually correct these files, it shows me the .ttf version in Finder.

I want to get it right because this font is used in a critical app and letting FontBook automatically correct this error, as advised by somebody else, was what caused the initial mess. I can naturally find the old fonts in the Finder and delete them from there, but is that the best way? They are both located in /users/username/library/fonts

It appears from this (and probably also applicable to the remaining 43 problems) that the OS does not properly remove fonts by trashing the apps which installed them.

Here is the EtreCheck report:

EtreCheck version: 3.3.2 (395)

Report generated 2017-05-27 16:07:03

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:21

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1

1 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-3720QM) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: Unknown Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 7

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 1024 MB

Color LCD 1920 x 1200

CG241W 1920 x 1200

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1510) - Time since boot: about 3 hours

Disk Information: ⓘ

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 2TB disk0 : (2 TB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 2.00 TB (474.96 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 2.00 TB Online

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-8A8 ()

USB Information: ⓘ

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

USB20Bus

hub_device

hub_device

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

USB30Bus 1 TB

HGST G-DRIVE mobile USB 7200 1 TB

EFI (disk3s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

G-Drive-1TB-parallels (disk3s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/G-Drive-1TB-parallels : 999.86 GB (321.79 GB free)

Apple Inc. iPad

Burr-Brown from TI USB audio CODEC

USB30Bus 1 TB

HGST G-Drive Mobile USB 1 TB

EFI (disk7s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

1TB-G-Drive-cards (disk7s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/1TB-G-Drive-cards : 999.86 GB (186.47 GB free)

Kensington Kensington Expert Mouse

hub_device

EIZO EIZO USB HID Monitor

USB30Bus

composite_device

Firewire Information: ⓘ

LaCie Rugged USB3-FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk4s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

NewFoto1-2TB-LaCie (disk4s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/NewFoto1-2TB-LaCie : 2.00 TB (522.73 GB free)

LaCie Rugged USB3-FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk5s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Foto2-LaCie-1TB (disk5s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Foto2-LaCie-1TB : 999.86 GB (247.44 GB free)

LaCie Rugged USB3-FW 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk6s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Foto1-2TB-LaCie (disk6s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Foto1-2TB-LaCie : 2.00 TB (367.57 GB free)

OWC Mercury Elite Pro AL OXFORD IDE Device 1 800mbit - 800mbit max

disk2s1 (disk2s1 - ) <not mounted> : 32 KB

disk2s2 (disk2s2 - ) <not mounted> : 29 KB

disk2s3 (disk2s3 - ) <not mounted> : 29 KB

disk2s4 (disk2s4 - ) <not mounted> : 29 KB

disk2s5 (disk2s5 - ) <not mounted> : 29 KB

disk2s6 (disk2s6 - ) <not mounted> : 262 KB

disk2s7 (disk2s7 - ) <not mounted> : 262 KB

disk2s8 (disk2s8 - ) <not mounted> : 262 KB

OWC Mercury Elite (disk2s10 - HFS+) /Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite : 249.92 GB (53.56 GB free)

JMicron JMB35x LUN0 800mbit - 800mbit max

EFI (disk8s1 - ) <not mounted> : 210 MB

3TB-Seagate (disk8s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/3TB-Seagate : 3.00 TB (49.30 GB free)

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Other World Computing, Inc. Thunderbolt 2 Dock

Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 5

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/Capture One 9.app

[not loaded] com.Leaf.driver.LeafFwXDriverMatcher (1.2.0d1) [Lookup]

/Applications/ESET Cyber Security.app

[loaded] com.eset.kext.esets-kac (6.4.200 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.eset.kext.esets-mac (6.4.200 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.eset.kext.esets-pfw (6.4.200 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app

[loaded] com.parallels.kext.hypervisor (12.0.2 41353 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.parallels.kext.netbridge (12.0.2 41353 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.parallels.kext.usbconnect (12.0.2 41353 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.parallels.kext.vnic (12.0.2 41353 - SDK 10.9) [Lookup]

/Applications/Trim Enabler.app

[not loaded] org.cindori.TrimEnabler (1.0 - SDK 10.10) [Lookup]

/Applications/Wireless Auto Import.app

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.dsccamFirmwareUpdaterType00 (1.2.00.01242 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

/Library/Application Support/HASP/kexts/aksfridge_signed.kext

[loaded] com.aladdin.kext.aksfridge (1.0.16332) [Lookup]

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (1.2) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.4 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.OWC.Thunderbolt2DockChargingSupport (1.0 - SDK 10.10) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.kensington.trackballworks.driver (1.3.0 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.LaCie.ScsiType00 (1.2.11 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBCDCACMData (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.17) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBMassStorageFilter (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.17) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.jmicron.driver.jmPeripheralDevice (2.0.4) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.lacie.driver.LaCie_RemoteComms (1.0.1 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.oxsemi.driver.OxsemiDeviceType00 (1.28.13 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.realtek.driver.RTL8192** (1021 - SDK 10.7) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.dsccamDeviceInfo00 (1.3.0.07310 - SDK 10.7) [Lookup]

/Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite /misc-folder(reserve)/KensingtonMouseWorks/MouseWorks Install.app

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.ADBID32Mouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.ADBID32MouseX1 (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.ADBID4Mouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.ADBID4MouseX1 (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.KMWBluetoothHIDMouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.KMWBluetoothOldHIDMouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.KMWUSBHIDMouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.USBMouseX1 (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.VirtualMouse (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.driver.VirtualMouseX1 (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.iokit.KensingtonMouseDriver (3.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.kensington.mouseworks.iokit.KensingtonMouseDriverX1 (3.0) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 158 Apple tasks

[running] 74 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded] 159 Apple tasks

[running] 84 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] Wlan.Software.plist (? ccc1b18e 5fbd730e - installed 2013-01-29) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 dbda64ee - installed 2014-11-26) [Lookup]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusagent.plist (Marc Edwards - installed 2016-11-06) [Lookup]

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (? a1772de2 41ad4933 - installed 2016-11-06) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-03-29) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 4a127bf1 be93c7fb - installed 2017-04-21) [Lookup]

[running] com.sony.WirelessAutoImportLauncher.agent.plist (? c33fba7e ba7b8cf1 - installed 2014-01-28) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.xrite.device.softwareupdate.plist (X-Rite, Incorporated - installed 2017-04-06) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] cn.com.zte.PPPMonitor.plist (? a6746e8b ? - installed 2010-10-22) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 840b5c7b - installed 2017-04-27) [Lookup]

[running] com.aladdin.aksusbd.plist (? 882ffbab db34749b - installed 2017-04-06) [Lookup]

[running] com.aladdin.hasplmd.plist (? c5d97ee2 5b17585 - installed 2017-04-06) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.ambrosiasw.ambrosiaaudiosupporthelper.daemon.plist (Ambrosia Software, Inc. - installed 2016-09-03) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.apple.aelwriter.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2013-09-06)

[loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist (? d1ef2342 13872c18 - installed 2016-11-08) [Lookup]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusdaemon.plist (Marc Edwards - installed 2016-11-06) [Lookup]

[running] com.eset.esets_daemon.plist (ESET, spol. s r.o. - installed 2017-04-30) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.fotoware.fshelper.plist (? e48142e5 f7cce158 - installed 2015-04-24) [Lookup]

[running] com.fxtech.fxlm.plist (? a968db6 7091389c - installed 2014-08-01) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-04-17) [Lookup]

[running] com.huawei.mbbservice.plist (? d59902d6 599c7d6e - installed 2016-12-06) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-03-15) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.sheepsystems.BookMacster.plist (Jerry Krinock - installed 2013-03-21) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.sheepsystems.CocoaPrivilegedHelper.plist (? 21dc199d d4d3dbe4 - installed 2013-03-30) [Lookup]

[running] com.xrite.device.xrdd.plist (X-Rite, Incorporated - installed 2015-09-18) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.cindori.TEAuth.plist (Oskar Groth - installed 2016-09-01) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 6a3cceca dbda64ee - installed 2014-11-26) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

ChronoSync Scheduler Application (Econ Technologies, Inc. - installed 2017-05-06)

(/Applications/ChronoSync.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/ChronoSync Scheduler.app)

Flux Application

(/Applications/Flux.app)

TrackballWorksHelper Application

(/Library/PreferencePanes/TrackballWorks.prefPane/Contents/Resources/TrackballW orksHelper.app)

Activity Monitor Application

(/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app)

Snapz Pro X Application

(/Applications/Snapz Pro X.app)

i1ProfilerTray Application

(/Applications/i1Profiler/i1ProfilerTray.app)

ColorNavigator 6 Application

(/Applications/ColorNavigator 6.app)

ESET Cyber Security Application

(/Applications/ESET Cyber Security.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.0.0.126 (installed 2012-12-23) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 25.0.0.171 (installed 2017-05-09) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-05-16)

Flash Player: 25.0.0.171 (installed 2017-05-09) [Lookup]

Default Browser: 601 (installed 2016-09-01)

DivXBrowserPlugin: 1.2 (installed 2006-11-29) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 131 build 11 (installed 2017-04-21) Check version

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (installed 2016-11-06) [Lookup]

ContentUploaderPlugin: 1.0 (installed 2006-11-29) [Lookup]

PepperFlashPlayer: 25.0.0.171 (installed 2017-05-09) [Lookup]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2013-09-07)

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

[enabled] Evernote Web Clipper - Evernote Corp. - http://evernote.com (installed 2017-05-20)

[not loaded] iMedia Converter Deluxe - iSkysoft Studio - http://www.iskysoft.com (installed 2014-09-26)

[not loaded] Open in Internet Explorer - Parallels - http://www.parallels.com (installed 2016-09-07)

[enabled] iMedia Converter Deluxe for Mac - iSkysoft Studio - http://www.iskysoft.com (installed 2016-11-02)

[enabled] Incognito - Orbicule - http://www.orbicule.com/incognito/ (installed 2012-04-09)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

CepstralVoices (installed 2014-02-20) [Lookup]

Flash Player (installed 2017-04-27) [Lookup]

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2012-09-15) [Lookup]

FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE) (installed 2014-03-21) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-04-21) [Lookup]

TrackballWorks (installed 2016-09-02) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 2.00 TB Disk used: 1.52 TB

Destinations:

3TB-Seagate [Local]

Total size: 3.00 TB

Total number of backups: 25

Oldest backup: 2:5:17, 07:58

Last backup: 26:5:17, 11:37

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 3.00 TB < (Disk used 1.52 TB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

10% WindowServer -daemon

2% config.pvs --uuid {1a04bb2d-a3b7-432a-b43d-840aef0d5a6a} --dir-uuid [and 3 more arguments]

1% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

0% ColorNavigator 6 -psn_0_32776

0% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

868 MB config.pvs --uuid {1a04bb2d-a3b7-432a-b43d-840aef0d5a6a} --dir-uuid [and 3 more arguments]

639 MB Safari

410 MB softwareupdated

344 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

295 MB Backup

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

15.68 WindowServer -daemon

5.12 config.pvs --uuid {1a04bb2d-a3b7-432a-b43d-840aef0d5a6a} --dir-uuid [and 3 more arguments]

1.36 ColorNavigator 6 -psn_0_32776

1.32 launchd

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

2.97 GB Available RAM

52 MB Free RAM

13.03 GB Used RAM

2.92 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

2017-05-27 12:07:52 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Find Any File_2017-05-27-120752_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/Utilities/Find Any File.app/Contents/MacOS/Find Any File

2017-05-26 22:36:41 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2017-05-26-223641_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox

2017-05-26 15:49:04 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Find Any File_2017-05-26-154904_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

2017-05-26 12:13:33 ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ImgCoreProcess_2017-05-26-121333_[redacted].cr ash

/Applications/Capture One 9.app/Contents/Frameworks/ImgCoreProcess

Application Specific Information:

abort() called

*** error for object 0x7fb149e0d4b8: incorrect checksum for freed object - object was probably modified after being freed.

2017-05-25 18:48:15 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2017-05-25-184815_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

2017-05-25 16:59:50 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2017-05-25-165950_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

2017-05-25 16:45:58 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Find Any File_2017-05-25-164558_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

2017-05-25 15:28:32 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/backupd_2017-05-25-152832_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

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

2017-05-25 09:08:51 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2017-05-25-090851_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

2017-05-24 20:11:19 /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/backupd_2017-05-24-201119_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Details]

2017-05-24 18:44:25 ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Pages_2017-05-24-184425_[redacted].crash

com.apple.iWork.Pages - /Applications/Pages.app/Contents/MacOS/Pages

Application Specific Information:

objc_msgSend() selector name: isEqualToString:

2017-05-24 18:44:02 ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Pages_2017-05-24-184402_[redacted].crash

Application Specific Information:

objc_msgSend() selector name: isEqualToString:

>You are running AV software(ESET Cyber Security Application) which is neither needed or recommended on Mac OS. It will do you no good and could cause a lot of harm to your system.

I have read that but did not think that it could cause harm. As I run Windows under Parallels I thought it a good idea to catch problems on the Mac.

>Your Configuration files have been modified. Do you know why you did this?

Fixing a hacked /etc/hosts file

I was unaware of that. Where did you see it so that I can delve a little deeper?

>Also, your Security & Privacy settings in System Preferences are set to "Anywhere". This is dangerous and advise you change that to "App Store and Identified Developers"

That is easily done, thanks.

>I don't know that any of this will change the system font issue but it can only improve the performance of your system.

How about this solution found recommended in OSX Daily?

https://github.com/HiKay/macOSLucidaGrande

Thanks for the pointers, but they don't solve the problem. The system font itself has changed and is now thinner. This is particularly important in apps which are hard programmed to use white typeface on a black background. This make text difficult to read even with my big monitor.

Yes, if it comes to that, but then I would prefer to do it on a file by file or folder by folder basis IF possible. Otherwise I would lose a lot of work.

Usually the clone is made Saturdays. However, I was travelling from Weds - Mon, so the last clone is from Tues 16 May.

So preferably I am looking for the magic "backwards" switch. I forgot to mention it but I also have a Time Machine backup from Fri 26 May before the changes were made. When I opened Time Machine with the right time stamp it showed probably 10 apparently identical Finder windows stacked above each other. That's where I got lost. I pressed the restore button but it didn't improve the situation so perhaps I did it incorrectly.

The number of files in each of the 3 font folders is unchanged between the current status and that on my last clone (16 May) so I imagine that the files are unchanged too, which is puzzling because Font Book no longer shows duplicate fonts. However, by inspecting the Console entries, I saw that fontbook.plist was changed. I don't want to heighten the problem, but would restoring the 16 May version of fontbook.plist be enough to solve the problem? I could post the content here if useful.