[net.micro.mac] Finder 5.3 catastrophe

saeta@husc4.harvard.edu (peter saeta) (11/05/86)

Newsgroups: mod.mac,net.micro.mac
Subject: Finder catastrophe
Reply-To: saeta@husc4.UUCP (peter saeta)
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Distribution: net
Organization: Harvard Science Center
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In order to minimize my frustration in trying to navigate a certain
adventure type game which constantly accesses the floppy disk, I tried
copying it to my SCSI hard disk, putting it neatly in a folder.  No
luck.  It asked for the floppy disk and then completely ignored the
copy on the hard disk.  Then I tried copying the program to the "root"
directory of the hard disk (the lowermost one).  As there are many
files to copy, this became very confusing for the Finder (5.3).  I
began receiving error messages (Oh! if I had just written them down...)
about running out of space, or too many files, or something of that
sort.  Each error message sported a cheery "OK" button but no "PANIC"
button, as best I recall.  So I warily "OK"ed until violent,
irreversible (?) damage had been done.

When the operation was finally over, all the custom icons were gone!
After some piddling around, I shut it down and started up again.  Some
of the icons were back; a second round trip brought all of them back.
But, a greater problem remains.

When I try to launch an application by double clicking from the
Finder, it can take several seconds before the application begins
loading.  It never used to do this.  Furthermore, if a document file
created by any of the applications I commonly use (LightspeedC,
OverVUE, etc.) is double-clicked, I get the annoying error message "An
application cannot be found to open that document."  Prior to the
above-described catastrophe, regardless of the search path for an
application, any document created by an application resident on the
hard disk would open without significant delay, whether that document
was on the hard disk or a mounted floppy.

Apparently, some kind of applications list has become severely
fragmented if not destroyed.  When an application calls SFGetFile,
however, it has no problem posting the files and folders in any given
directory.

Can some kind soul help me figure out HFS and what has gone awry?  or
must I reformat my hard disk and try again????

Please reply to Peter Saeta at

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Peter Saeta

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	USPS:	327 Gordon McKay Lab, 9 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA  02138
	ATT:	617-495-9616; 5-3357

dgold@apple.UUCP (David Goldsmith) (11/06/86)

It sounds like your DeskTop file is corrupted.  The next time you boot your
system, hold down the option and command keys simultaneously after the
"Welcome to Macintosh" message (or equivalent) appears.  When the Finder
asks you if you want to rebuild the desktop on your hard disk, click OK.
If you still get the "can't find an application to open this document"
message, try opening the folder the application is in and closing it.
If you still have problems, drag the application to the desktop and then
drop it back in the folder.

By the way, rebuilding your DeskTop file will cause all your Get Info comments
to be lost, but has no other side effects.


-- 
David Goldsmith
Apple Computer, Inc.
MacApp Group

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