12-28-2011, 04:40 PM

Hello Friends,

My Mac Mini/OS 10.5.8 has gone wacky! What is wacky? All kinds of anomolies such as:
- hard to put a check mark in any box,
- nearly impossible to label an icon w/o the application or graphic opening,
- whole programs and etc. "disappearing" into that slimy thing that enters just below the Trash - and you have to click it to come back on the screen,
- hard to insert the cursor to edit anything - the whole word or whole paragraph or whole page even get "selected"

I culled the Hard Drive of unnecessary programs, ran Disk Warrior many times, ran IDefrag many times

Nothing seems to help - there must be a simple reason for it came all of a sudden - (but I don't remember what I was doing at the time)

Any clues?

Thank you -

Grey-haired old man going bald by the minute,
Dennis

12-28-2011, 05:18 PM

Sounds like your drive is the wacky thing. Boot from your install disc and run Disk Utility > Repair Disk from there.

12-28-2011, 07:25 PM

Hi Harry b.

Thanks for your response. You know what - I forget how-to do the re-booting of an OS without losing all my "stuff". Can it be done safely?

Dennis

12-29-2011, 03:34 AM

Originally Posted by ardenlester00

Hi Harry b.

Thanks for your response. You know what - I forget how-to do the re-booting of an OS without losing all my "stuff". Can it be done safely?

Dennis

Yes you can, but you don't need to reboot/reload the OS quite yet, just run Disk Utility from the install disc and repair permissions and verify the HD.

Put the disc in, reboot the Mac while holding "C" until the blue screen and installer appears. Quit the installer, and from the filemenu select "disk utility".
Let it load, select your main HD, and then click repair permissions. After it finishes, click verify disc, and repair it if needed (it will tell you).
Restart the Mac, booting to your main HD, and see how things are.

12-29-2011, 02:28 PM

Hello Friends,

I booted the installation disk and went to Disk Utility and did the "permissions" and "verify/repair disk". It seems to be somewhat more stable - tho' still putting checks in boxes (ie Yahoo e-mail) etc. it is hesitant and have to re-click some. The labeling on graphics and docs, etc. still is unstable (ie hard to write without the graphic/document opening up.

I went to get my disk info and this is what I have - "Capacity - 111.47GB, Available, 42.68GB and Used 68.79 GB."

My question is this: It there a "critical point" that one gets to when there is too much data in the memories? I regularly run Disk Warrior and IDefrag which seems to help some, but I wondered if there is a point where it is overloading the capacity of the Mini Intel to "compute" w/o these problems.

ie When is the critical point where it needs more space to work in? I can live with it as it is, but it is not pleasant for I spend many hours a day working on writing books, etc.

Thank you,

Dennis

12-29-2011, 02:44 PM

General recommendation is to have 10% free at all times, so you are a way off of that to be honest, and I have run at 95% full before without issue (though not a good idea).
I am wondering if the running of Disk Warrior and iDefrag are the issue.
Neither are necessary at all in general running of Mac OS. Mac's do not work like PC's and do not need defragging.
Disk Warrior is fine to use for checks, but actually getting it to alter things may actually cause more issues.
My recommendation would be to back everything up, and make a clean install of the OS, and forget about using those programs.

12-30-2011, 09:23 AM

Hello,

I re-installed my OS 10.5x, then downloaded the up-date (10.5.8). I had lost complete access to my OS - and the start-up disks didn't start it, so I did re-install - keeping the archives, etc.

I have back what I had before - the slinking around of "stuff" disappearing into the left corner, can't click on an icon without opening it (when I wish to re-label it), check boxes not wanting to be checked in.

Essentially, the same as before. (I had to re-install some things such as Flash, etc)

So, back to square one, eh? I can't imagine that Firefox would have anything to do with this on the desktop anomolies. I looked at all the apps and can't figure out if one is "schizzy" causing all this. I have plenty of disk/memory space, if DiskWarrior or IDefrag caused this I have no idea how-to correct it.

I hate to be a "pest" but I'd appreciate more ideas to pursue - it's maddening!!!

Thanks again,

Dennis

12-30-2011, 09:28 AM

Addendum: Is it possible for the "Desktop" to be loaded with too much "stuff"? Most everything I have is on the Desktop.

I may be showing my ignorance - maybe ALL stuff is stored on the "Desktop" on a computer. Where else can it be stored to get it out of the way?

Dennis

12-31-2011, 03:30 PM

Hello Friends,

I discovered the problem with my desktop being so "schizzy", not being stable so I could label icons or the document/graphic opening when I only wanted to change the label-name or the whole documents disappearing into that space by the garbage, or not being able to place the edit cursor in place without a whole section highlighting, etc. etc.

I, for some reason, plugged in another mouse I had (both opticals), but suddenly everything is stabilized - Good ole' Mac is back!! I've had mouse problems before, but a trap fixed that - this was insane-making!!!

Thanks for all your good ideas and help - I tried 'em all. Why a mouse should do this I'm not sure. I don't know if that mouse can be fixed or adjusted, etc. Any ideas?

Thanks again,

Dennis

12-31-2011, 03:45 PM

I'd say that mouse needs an adjustment - with a hammer!

Hit some places like a Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift shop - you can get a USB mouse for a few dollars if you keep an eye open. I finally laid my hands on a proper Microsoft USB mouse for $1.99 and it's a treat to have a working scroll function again.

12-31-2011, 05:06 PM

Chuckle!! I needed that laugh for the day - you made me snicker! Thanks.

Yes, a hammer is the desired tool of the day also. Even above the Disk Warrior and Ifrag program (tho' I have to suggest that they saved my computer from the worst "pile-up" of stuff over a year ago. I've heard that OS 10.5.8 is supposed to handle de-fragging, but it appears that it doesn't/didn't. My hard drive was the worst mess you can imagine - IFrag (and many times DiskWarrior) saved the day.

It could be that I just don't know how-to use OS 10.5.8 built-in defrag program (if it has one??)

The next sound you hear will be the "squeel/squeek" of a mouse under my foot - it doesn't have a chance - and GoodWill, here I come!
Friend,

Dennis

ps I wrote a short "book" about my encounter w/mice and rats (I thought). I'll, if I can, attach it here.