Lion: 10.8.4 Problem with Drag and Drop to desktop

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Hello this is my first post with the forum. I hope it I'm being detailed enough and clear.

I have a Macbook Air with Mountain Lion 10.8.4 and I'm having an issue related to drag and drop functions.
I've done what I think is a reasonable amount of research over several websites and I haven't heard of any complaints of this nature yet.

The situation is simple. When I, for example, select an image from my Chrome web browser and drag it to the desktop the image does not drop to where I would like it to. As far as I know, I don't have any type of sorting for my desktop so the image should populate where I've released the pointer. Instead the image "snaps" to the right side of the screen and each successive file populates in the column like fashion. There also isn't any audio or animations when this happens. I haven't changed any settings to cause this to happen and I would like to have the photos just appear where I release the pointer on the desktop. What's making things more strange is that Safari does not have the same issue. For Safari the image populates where the pointer is released but there isn't any audio from the copy.

Anybody have any ideas how to revert this back to the "freeform" to which I am referring?
 
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Right-click on your Desktop; select "Show View Options"; click the drop down menu for "Sort by" and choose "None"; from that same drop down menu, de-select "Snap to Grid" if it is checked already.
 
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Right-click on your Desktop; select "Show View Options"; click the drop down menu for "Sort by" and choose "None"; from that same drop down menu, de-select "Snap to Grid" if it is checked already.

No luck on my end. This was one of the fixes I attempted. It was already set at 'None' so I toggled it to something else and then I switched it back but there weren't any differences.

I've also tried repairing permissions and relaunching Finder but with no luck still.
 
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Try restarting the computer. If that doesn't fix it, then you might need to replace your com.apple.finder.plist file, found in your home folder / Library / Preferences. Drag that file out and restart the computer again.
 
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Try restarting the computer. If that doesn't fix it, then you might need to replace your com.apple.finder.plist file, found in your home folder / Library / Preferences. Drag that file out and restart the computer again.

I was really hopefully about this one but still no luck.
I couldn't find the plist within /library/preferences but I was able to find it in ~/library/preferences after obtaining some more information from another forum.

I also did the same testing with Safari and I got the same results.

I'm still looking though. And hopeful.
 
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Did you actually drag the .plistfile to the desktop and reboot with it there? This should create a fault free file.
 
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Did you actually drag the .plistfile to the desktop and reboot with it there? This should create a fault free file.

At first I simply moved the .plist file to the trash and I relaunched finder. That didn't work when the file repopulated.
So I tried moving the .plist file to the trash and restarting the computer. That didn't work either.

After reading your post I tried moving the .plist file to the desktop and relaunching finder. That didn't work either. At first the .plist file didn't recreate. I figured the .plist file on the desktop was being referenced instead of any new file.
Then lastly I tried moving the .plist to the desktop and I restarting the computer. That didn't work either though. The file did repopulate leaving me with two .plist files though.

After doing some more research on this and issues with finder I still haven't found anything. Some people have suggested doing a complete reinstallation of the OSX but I'm not sure if that's the best option to take at this point.

I'm still hopeful to solve the issue but I'm running low on good ideas.

Edit: Thinking back on to what could have caused this, I recall an issue I had with netflix and silverlight. I was watching netflix through chrome and my mac became completely unresponsive. I had to perform a "hard" reboot with the power button. The same issue occurred the following day and I did some research to figure out the cause. It seemed that I needed to reinstall Microsoft Silverlight. After I did that the issue had resolved itself. Since then however, I think this issue has come up as a result of those "hard" reboots. I hope this information helps someone to point me in the right direction.
 
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Do a thorough clean with OnyX. If that doesn't fix the issue, you might consider making a short movie to illustrate the problem so that we can see it in action more clearly.
 

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Total endorsement of the OnyX suggestion by Chas.

If familiar with same then stop reading.

If not: make sure that the version of OnyxX you download is for ML. There are separate version s of OnyX for each OS. Install in usual way. It will request admin PW. Then it will verify Hard Drive. After that, from the menu then presented, choose Automation, check every box in the list, hit Execute...and wait. It may take a little time. Then reboot.

Ian
 
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A reinstall is complete overkill. The "Finder" plist may not have been the correct one. There's a special one for the Desktop that has settings specific to the Desktop space. Go to your home Library (not the root Library) and find com.apple.desktop.plist in yourhomefolder/Library/Preferences and delete that. Then log out and back in. A virgin copy of the file will get re-created, so you may have to repeat the steps I gave before to ensure sorting is set to "None" and "Snap to Grid" is off.

If that or any of the other suggestions fail to work, then see my signature for one last "tip" to try. Deleting that file has solved some weirdness for myself and others in the past.
 
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Whelp.... Nothing.

In the past couple days I've downloaded and performed complete cleans with Onyx
I've tried deleting any and all .plist files listed in this thread so far.
I've even tried the additional tip about deleting the .globalpreferences file.

As a result, the original behavior I'm having issues with remains completely unchanged.
In fact, after removing the desktop .plist (described above) all files started to arbitrarily appear on the ride side of the screen upon startup. I've also got a new problem with Chrome due to the changes in the .globalpreferences file. Each time I open chrome 3 tabs are opened and two of them have weird proxmate advertising for facebook and it's website.
So far each new action is only compounding the problem.

The pessimism is setting in.
 
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Whelp.... Nothing.

In the past couple days I've downloaded and performed complete cleans with Onyx
I've tried deleting any and all .plist files listed in this thread so far.
I've even tried the additional tip about deleting the .globalpreferences file.

As a result, the original behavior I'm having issues with remains completely unchanged.
In fact, after removing the desktop .plist (described above) all files started to arbitrarily appear on the ride side of the screen upon startup. I've also got a new problem with Chrome due to the changes in the .globalpreferences file. Each time I open chrome 3 tabs are opened and two of them have weird proxmate advertising for facebook and it's website.
So far each new action is only compounding the problem.

The pessimism is setting in.

I don't know what "proxmate advertising" is. But deleting the globalpreferences file shouldn't be making ads suddenly popping up in Chrome. That makes no sense at all. You should go ahead and restore the backup that you made of that file anyway since that didn't fix it. Regardless, you definitely have something weird going on. You may have a 3rd party app managing your desktop icons for all we know. If you open up Activity Monitor; save a list of your running processes; then copy/paste that list here, we can take a look at it.

I'm also going to point you to another post of mine on how to go on a bug hunt. Be certain to read it thoroughly and take care to make backups beforehand because this involves mass deleting folders/files temporarily, then restoring the originals.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...eyboard-shortcut-option-help.html#post1515403

If you take this step, be sure to re-check the sorting options as previously described after each "batch" of deletions and log-ins. Speaking of which, can you make a screen cap of your sorting options for the Desktop? Right-click on the Desktop (not the folder), move your mouse to the "Sort by" field, then make the screen cap by pressing CMD-SHIFT-3.
 
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Whelp.... Nothing.

In the past couple days I've downloaded and performed complete cleans with Onyx
I've tried deleting any and all .plist files listed in this thread so far.
I've even tried the additional tip about deleting the .globalpreferences file.

As a result, the original behavior I'm having issues with remains completely unchanged.
In fact, after removing the desktop .plist (described above) all files started to arbitrarily appear on the ride side of the screen upon startup. I've also got a new problem with Chrome due to the changes in the .globalpreferences file. Each time I open chrome 3 tabs are opened and two of them have weird proxmate advertising for facebook and it's website.
So far each new action is only compounding the problem.

The pessimism is setting in.

Ok, so I'd suggest that you stop trying to find the needle in the haystack. Start fresh with a different User Account as a test. If the issue you're having doesn't appear in a new account, then you should transfer your files to it and trash the one you're having problems with.
 
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I don't know what "proxmate advertising" is. But deleting the globalpreferences file shouldn't be making ads suddenly popping up in Chrome. That makes no sense at all. You should go ahead and restore the backup that you made of that file anyway since that didn't fix it. Regardless, you definitely have something weird going on. You may have a 3rd party app managing your desktop icons for all we know. If you open up Activity Monitor; save a list of your running processes; then copy/paste that list here, we can take a look at it.

I'm also going to point you to another post of mine on how to go on a bug hunt. Be certain to read it thoroughly and take care to make backups beforehand because this involves mass deleting folders/files temporarily, then restoring the originals.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...eyboard-shortcut-option-help.html#post1515403

If you take this step, be sure to re-check the sorting options as previously described after each "batch" of deletions and log-ins. Speaking of which, can you make a screen cap of your sorting options for the Desktop? Right-click on the Desktop (not the folder), move your mouse to the "Sort by" field, then make the screen cap by pressing CMD-SHIFT-3.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to address the suggestions from the forums but as it stands I have followed each suggestion and I still haven't fixed the issues.

To recap my resent activities.
I deleted the globalpreferences list and my computer started to behave strangely. When I opened Google Chrome there were tabs that always populated no matter how I set my preferences. There was a lag in the switch between desktops and the computer started to fall asleep randomly.
I replaced the original globalpreferences file which stopped all of the behaviors listed above.
I then reset the PRAM and the SMC. The computer seemed to respond no differently.
Then I finally created a new user and test to see if the problem resolved and it didn't of course.
I've also deleted various .plist files. and utilized the Onyx application.

I can try taking a quick screen shot of the desktop settings I have but I'm restating that the category is set to 'none.'
I also referenced the other post listed in the quote and it says that " ...we need to rule this out as a system-wide problem vs a user account problem. Create new user and see if the problems persist. If the problems do persist, then we'll come back to that."

So.... Nothing at this point seems to be resolving the issue and it definitely appears to be a system-wide related issue as far as I know it could be.
At the current time I'm utilizing time machine to prepare for a reinstallation because I feel that will set the problems straight. Is it overkill? I don't know. I need a high performance device and if there is something 'glitchy' or wrong with the system then I'm thinking that it could cause more issues as time goes on.
It's quite interesting that none of these things resolve my issue somehow.
 
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I can try taking a quick screen shot of the desktop settings I have but I'm restating that the category is set to 'none.'
I also referenced the other post listed in the quote and it says that " ...we need to rule this out as a system-wide problem vs a user account problem. Create new user and see if the problems persist. If the problems do persist, then we'll come back to that."

I'm looking for a screen cap chiefly to confirm that you in fact are looking in the right place. Some people just can't follow instructions, although you seem much better than average in this regard. :D

Just to be clear... you are right-clicking on the Desktop itself (not a folder icon or anywhere else in Finder), and "Sort By" is set to None, and "Snap to Grid" is un-checked? If so, unless you have 3rd party software running that is interfering here, then I see little recourse but to go ahead and reinstall.
 
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I'm looking for a screen cap chiefly to confirm that you in fact are looking in the right place. Some people just can't follow instructions, although you seem much better than average in this regard. :D

Just to be clear... you are right-clicking on the Desktop itself (not a folder icon or anywhere else in Finder), and "Sort By" is set to None, and "Snap to Grid" is un-checked? If so, unless you have 3rd party software running that is interfering here, then I see little recourse but to go ahead and reinstall.


Sounds like there is more support in to the reinstallation then. I did find something odd about what you said though. Perhaps it's just different semantics but from how you've written, "...None, and 'Snap to Grid' is unchecked..." I'm curious if there is the possibility of selecting "None" and "Snap to Grid" at the same time. In my list, provided by the screenshot, there is no way to select both options as they are in the same data field.

Screen Shot 2013-09-20 at 5.11.41 PM.png
 
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I didn't realize you could only check one of those options. Intuitively, you would think you could snap to a grid and still not have sorting.

Ok... now this is odd. I know full well I tested my Desktop's behavior earlier for this thread with "None" checked and "Snap to Grid" unchecked (OK... so now I know only one of those can be checked), and it worked as expected. Dropping a new shortcut on my Desktop would let it lay wherever I put it. I just tried again and now everything is auto-sorting despite being set to "None".

And I have a solution, for myself anyway. Something is bugged. Selecting "Snap to Grid" suddenly unsorted everything and spread my Desktop icons around, which makes no sense. After switching from one sorting option to the next, the "None" option finally started working as expected.

Basically, this is how it should work (now that I have this straight in my head). Sorting by "None" is exactly that... dropping an icon on the Desktop should leave it EXACTLY where it was dropped. "Snap to Grid" is almost the same as "None", except it adjusts the position of a dropped icon to a fixed grid to make it neat, but only in the general vicinity of where you dropped it. This avoids the possibility of having icons overlapping each other, whereas with "None", they can overlap.

At any rate, just cycle through ALL of the sorting options once or twice, then come back to "None" (or "Snap to Grid") and see if that jogs it back into working right.
 
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I didn't realize you could only check one of those options. Intuitively, you would think you could snap to a grid and still not have sorting.

You can, and in fact cannot do otherwise. If Snap to Grid is selected, sorting is by the user.

OP, It's unclear to me in your recent post whether you in fact tried another user account or not.
 
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I didn't realize you could only check one of those options. Intuitively, you would think you could snap to a grid and still not have sorting.

Basically, this is how it should work (now that I have this straight in my head). Sorting by "None" is exactly that... dropping an icon on the Desktop should leave it EXACTLY where it was dropped. "Snap to Grid" is almost the same as "None", except it adjusts the position of a dropped icon to a fixed grid to make it neat, but only in the general vicinity of where you dropped it. This avoids the possibility of having icons overlapping each other, whereas with "None", they can overlap.

At any rate, just cycle through ALL of the sorting options once or twice, then come back to "None" (or "Snap to Grid") and see if that jogs it back into working right.

You can, and in fact cannot do otherwise. If Snap to Grid is selected, sorting is by the user.

OP, It's unclear to me in your recent post whether you in fact tried another user account or not.


So I did a complete reinstallation today by restarting the computer and holding command + R . Then I deleted the old HD by accessing the disk utilities and erasing. This reset everything to new because the OS X was downloaded from the servers. Then reinstalling occurred. When it was finished I reinstalled Google Chrome and tried to transfer a photo but the same problem occurred. The same issue with Safari persisted as well.
To recap for those who may be new to the thread, after dragging a photo from a Chrome browser to the desktop a photo should just lie where ever the mouse is released. Instead mine snaps to the right side of the screen. When I do the same with Safari it does stay where it should but there is no audio clip played.

To follow solutions presented at this point, I've tried lifeisabeach's solution in this past few minutes but to no avail.

I have also created a separate user account but it didn't resolve the issue either.

I also noticed that 10.8.5 has been released and I updated but that didn't fix anything either.

The issue appears to be with Chrome as far as I know at this point but when I reinstall just the application nothing changes.

I venture to guess that I messed something up with the reinstallation. Does any body know how to perform the purest of reinstallations there could possibly be? Or does it matter that I reinstalled in the way that I've described?
 

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