Fonts on Startup and login screen - question marks

Question

furrywolf Author

Level 1

4 points

Fonts on Startup and login screen - question marks

After boot/re-boot all fonts on the login screens are replaced with the question mark-in-square character.

My user folder is hosted on a second SSD, not the startup SSD.

This issue is not present on the lock screen.

The issue clears up in safe mode.

Login Screen

Lock Screen

I have done the steps here: MacBook - characters in login screen replaced by question marks - Ask Different

Validated all of the fonts
I have a lot of duplicate fonts and one font that has a bad 'kern' table structure and contents.
Cleared the font caches while logged in to my user account:

atsutil databases -removeUser

sudoatsutil databases -remove

atsutil server -shutdown

atsutil server -ping

I haven't removed duplicate fonts yet, but many of them have been disabled.

I'm not sure it matters, I have encrypted drives.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 16 GB

Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0050.B00

SMC Version (system): 1.68f96

System Version: macOS 10.13.6 (17G65)

Kernel Version: Darwin 17.7.0

Boot Volume: Macintosh

Boot Mode: Normal

Computer Name: **************

User Name: ****************

Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled

System Integrity Protection: Disabled

Time since boot: 4:10

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6), 16GB RAM, 2x2TB SSD

Posted on Jul 26, 2018 11:00 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

59,118 points

Jul 28, 2018 8:40 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Found it.

Mac login name font name looks wrong

If only clearing cache files doesn't help, follow the procedure in the linked topic of creating a temporary user account. Though your issue isn't the same as this one, so you likely won't need to.

Reply

Answer 2

furrywolf Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 27, 2018 4:36 PM in response to Kurt Lang

--- It's likely one of those duplicate fonts is conflicting with a system font. ---

Open Font Book. From the menu bar, run the option, Restore Standard Fonts. This will move all third party fonts out of the three Fonts folders (System, Library, User) into a new folder next to each of the Fonts folders.

Done.

Restart in Safe Mode.

done - took about 10 minutes to get to the login screen.
logged in

Then restart normally.
- done - all looked fine on the first HD mount password screen and login.
- restarted to check and see if the fix was permanent.
- problem returned as before.
looks like there might be something during startup or login that is breaking things.
any ideas?

Reply

Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

59,118 points

Jul 27, 2018 6:49 PM in response to furrywolf

It's likely one of those duplicate fonts is conflicting with a system font.

Open Font Book. From the menu bar, run the option, Restore Standard Fonts. This will move all third party fonts out of the three Fonts folders (System, Library, User) into a new folder next to each of the Fonts folders.

Restart in Safe Mode. Then restart normally.

Reply

Answer 4

Kurt Lang

Level 9

59,118 points

Jul 28, 2018 8:20 AM in response to furrywolf

When you boot into Safe Mode, one of the things it does is clear all cache data from the user account you login to. However, it doesn't clear system caches. In particular here, the system's font cache.

Close all running applications. From an administrator account, open the Terminal app and enter the following command. You can also copy/paste it from here into the Terminal window:

sudo atsutil databases -remove

Terminal will then ask for your admin password. As you type, it will not show anything, so be sure to enter it correctly.

This command removes all font cache files. Both for the system and the current logged in user account. After running the command, close Terminal and immediately restart your Mac.

This will fix the issue most of the time. But I have seen a couple of posts here related specifically to the login screen showing the boxed question mark from the font LastResort instead of the normal text. Can't recall if that again was simply due to munged system font cache data, or something else. I'll have to try and find those previous topics.

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Answer 5

furrywolf Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2018 1:02 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Cleaning the catches didn’t work. New User didn’t work.

now when I log in, .png preview icons on the desktop take about 20-30 seconds to change from the standard “png” icon to their respective preview thumbnails.

definitely sounds like a catch issue, there, but I have no idea if they are related.

I have also tried to “reinstall OS“ from the rescue partition. This only fixed it initially. Restarts after that still showed the same problem.

might be time to call Apple?

Reply

Answer 6

Kurt Lang

Level 9

59,118 points

Jul 29, 2018 1:16 PM in response to furrywolf

Can't hurt to call Apple, but this I think says it all:

preview icons on the desktop take about 20-30 seconds to change from the standard “png” icon to their respective preview thumbnails.

That says to me your drive is very close to taking a dirt nap. Make a full backup immediately! Replace the drive and restore the backup.

Please run an EtreCheck report and post the results here. When the software has finished examining your hardware type and running its processes, you can click on the upper left corner to copy the results to the clipboard. Then paste that result in a new response here.

This utility is written and maintained by long-time forum user, etresoft. It automatically redacts all personal information from the compiled report.

I'm suspecting the report will confirm the drive is failing.

Edit: In this case, I would strongly suggest backing the drive up before running EtreCheck. To gather much of the info it does, it has to access the drive quite a bit. If the drive is very close to failing, just running the app could possibly push it over the edge.

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

59,118 points

Jul 30, 2018 6:30 PM in response to furrywolf

That being the case, then I also doubt the drives are bad. It is, at least, highly unlikely. But those 20-30 second icon display times are very long, and should be even faster than a standard rotational hard drive.

If you haven’t yet, try Old Toad’s suggestion to apply the 10.13.6 Combo Update. It’s reinstalls much of the OS by replacing all of the system files that have changed since 10.13.0.

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Answer 8

furrywolf Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 1, 2018 2:26 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Tried to run the update - I let it run over night and nothing seems to be happening (looked at activity monitor install.app and installd- no/or verly little drive or network activity.

Ran AHD JIC - all good there with extended diagnostics.

Ran "reinstall OS" on the recovery drive. (same result as before: OK on the first reboot, messed up after that - not a surprise there)

Reply

Answer 9

furrywolf Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 1, 2018 2:21 PM in response to Kurt Lang

EntreCheck log looks like something might be going on since it reports that the test ran long:

EtreCheck version:4.3.6 (4D041)

Report generated:2018-08-01 17:05:31

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime:6:07

Performance:Below Average

Problem:Other problem

Description:

Fonts on the login screen showsas all question marks.

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Unsigned files- Thereare unsigned software installed that could beadware and should be reviewed.

System Integrity Protection disabled- System Integrity Protection is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Stuck iCloud- This machine has a large number of pending iCloud transfers.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Kernel extensions blocked- There are blocked kernel extensions awaiting user approval.

Heavy network usage- This machine has recently restarted and has high network usage.

Apps crashing- There have been numerous app crashes.

Clean up- There are orphan files that could be removed.

System modifications- There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

Low performance- EtreCheck report took over 5 minutes to run. This is unusual.

32-bit Apps- This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro8,1

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-2620M) CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM -At maximum

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 16

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

Drives:

disk0 - Micron_1100_MTFDDAK2T0TBN 2.05 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 - B***********s (Journaled HFS+) 2.05 TB

disk1 - Micron_1100_MTFDDAK2T0TBN 2.05 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk1s2 2.05 TB

disk2s1 - M*******h (APFS) 2.05 TB (524.49 GB used)

disk2s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] 2.05 TB (25 MB used)

disk2s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] 2.05 TB (516 MB used)

disk2s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] 2.05 TB (9.66 GB used)

disk3 - Disk Image 4.00 TB (Disk Image)

External Disk Image

disk3s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk3s2 - T******************s (Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+) 4.00 TB

disk4 - Disk Image 5.39 GB (Disk Image)

External Disk Image

disk4s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk4s2 - m******************************e (HFS+) 5.04 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - B***********s 2.05 TB (375.16 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/B***********s

disk2s1 - M*******h 2.05 TB (1.51 TB free)

APFS

Mount point: /

Encrypted

disk2s4 - VM [APFS VM] 2.05 TB (1.51 TB free)

APFS

Mount point: /private/var/vm

disk3s2 - T******************s 4.00 TB (934.36 GB free)

Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/T******************s

disk4s2 - m******************************e 5.04 GB (2.54 GB free)

HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/m******************************e

Network:

Interface usbmodemFA131: Metro M0 Express

Interface usbmodem1461521: USB Serial

Interface usbmodemFD121: Bluefruit Micro

Interface usbmodem3111: Feather 33

Interface usbmodem3141: Feather 32u4

Interface usbserial: USB-Serial Controller D

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Interface en0: Ethernet

One IPv4 address

Interface en7: Thunderbolt Ethernet Slot 3

Interface fw0: FireWire

Interface fw1: Thunderbolt FireWire

Interface en5: iPhone

Interface en6: iPad

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

Interface en4: Thunderbolt Ethernet Slot 2

iCloud Quota: 1.56 TB available

iCloud Status: 307 pending files

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G65)

Time since boot: About an hour

System Load: 2.50 (1 min ago) 2.70 (5 min ago) 3.31 (15 min ago)

Configuration Files:

File /etc/sysctl.conf exists but not expected

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Security:

System	Status
Gatekeeper	Mac App Store and identified developers
System Integrity Protection	disabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.ecamm.iglasses3agent.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/iGlasses3/iGlasses.app/Contents/MacOS/iGlasses