Mac problems and OS questions

[PinkiePixi]

I had no idea where to put this, but... if any of you guys could help me - I would super appreciate it! Im not entirely tech stoopid - but when it comes to this I am...

So my Macbook is version 10.6.8 - which I believe is Lion? I have no idea. Recently Ive been having a lot of problems with finder crashing, when it does that I cant restart and I have to just press the power button to turn it off. I read up on it online - and the best I found is to reset your permissions (which I did), and if that doesnt help, something about having to have a bootable OS disk to reinstall the OS? I... dont believe I have any of that.

But... seeing as my OS is old news anyway, and Mountain Lion is out - can I simply just purchase and download that from the app store? Will installing that fix the problems? Also - will the rest of my hard drive stay intact, or will all of my files be wipes? I have it all backed up using time machine - but should I also back it up onto a regular external HD?

 

[Nordling]

You have Snow Leopard. Replacing the OS with a newer version MIGHT fix your problem, but it's generally advised that before you install a new OS to ensure your existing one is in good order--kind of a Catch-22.

Do you still have your Install disks? You can boot from that and reinstall your OS. That would be your best bet rather than upgrading first, but even before you do that, run First Aid from your install disk. I've had my Finder crash but never has it frozen me up like you describe, so I'd run First Aid if you have your install disks.

 

[Jupiter551]

have you tried Bobcat? Failing that I'd go with Ocelot.

 

[PinkiePixi]

You have Snow Leopard. Replacing the OS with a newer version MIGHT fix your problem, but it's generally advised that before you install a new OS to ensure your existing one is in good order--kind of a Catch-22.

Do you still have your Install disks? You can boot from that and reinstall your OS. That would be your best bet rather than upgrading first, but even before you do that, run First Aid from your install disk. I've had my Finder crash but never has it frozen me up like you describe, so I'd run First Aid if you have your install disks.

I have no clue where any of that would be. Ive moved so many times since getting this laptop, everything that came with it is lost god knows where. Can I just repurchase install disks?

 

[PinkiePixi]

have you tried Bobcat? Failing that I'd go with Ocelot.

I could be wroooong... but Im pretty sure that those arent legit OSXs...

 

[Nordling]

You have Snow Leopard. Replacing the OS with a newer version MIGHT fix your problem, but it's generally advised that before you install a new OS to ensure your existing one is in good order--kind of a Catch-22.

Do you still have your Install disks? You can boot from that and reinstall your OS. That would be your best bet rather than upgrading first, but even before you do that, run First Aid from your install disk. I've had my Finder crash but never has it frozen me up like you describe, so I'd run First Aid if you have your install disks.

I have no clue where any of that would be. Ive moved so many times since getting this laptop, everything that came with it is lost god knows where. Can I just repurchase install disks?

Very likely I'd guess. Do you have an Apple Store in your area? Just take your laptop there and tell them your problem--they have a "genius desk" for your sorts of problems.

 

[PinkiePixi]

You have Snow Leopard. Replacing the OS with a newer version MIGHT fix your problem, but it's generally advised that before you install a new OS to ensure your existing one is in good order--kind of a Catch-22.

Do you still have your Install disks? You can boot from that and reinstall your OS. That would be your best bet rather than upgrading first, but even before you do that, run First Aid from your install disk. I've had my Finder crash but never has it frozen me up like you describe, so I'd run First Aid if you have your install disks.

I have no clue where any of that would be. Ive moved so many times since getting this laptop, everything that came with it is lost god knows where. Can I just repurchase install disks?

Very likely I'd guess. Do you have an Apple Store in your area? Just take your laptop there and tell them your problem--they have a "genius desk" for your sorts of problems.

Well... Im an impatient fool and downloaded the new OSX. So... lets see if this works. If not, I need to go there soon anyway so I can have them fix my fans... damn you unibody! Otherwise I would just fix it myself!

 

[UncleThursday]

I had the same problem on 10.6.8. Quicktime would crash, the OS would hang if I tried to move stuff or access my external drive, the iMac wouldn't shut down properly, etc.

I eventually got to the point where my main login wouldn't even login completely. Just the desktop image would load and then it would freeze. But my old login transferred from my old iBook G4 would login fine.

So, I upgraded to OS X 10.8.2 and it fixed some of the problems... the most important one being being able to log in to my main login.

But, many of the problems still persist. The OS still hangs at times, especially when trying to access my external drive after it has been on a few hours. Quicktime still crashes for no reason. The iMac rarely fully shuts down or restarts properly, forcing me to hard reset it. Now my screen capture program (which I need to convert a video sent in for my promo to an editable format) is giving me all sorts of errors saying it can't capture, even on a fresh reboot. :angry4:

But, I do have a hardware problem, as well. My hard drive fan has pretty much bit the dust... so I am thinking some of these problems could be attributed to that.

 

[Jupiter551]

have you tried Bobcat? Failing that I'd go with Ocelot.

I could be wroooong... but Im pretty sure that those arent legit OSXs...

They're in beta :naughty:
If you can get your hands on an alpha release of Margay or Caracal it might solve the issue

 

[Nordling]

Oh, get your hands on the elusive Blue Sapid Polecat and you'll never have problems again! Polecat even fixes fans!

 

[Jupiter551]

Oh, get your hands on the elusive Blue Sapid Polecat and you'll never have problems again! Polecat even fixes fans!

I've heard mixed reviews of Polecat, Eurasian Lynx is fairly stable or so I'm lead to believe

 

[Nordling]

Oh, get your hands on the elusive Blue Sapid Polecat and you'll never have problems again! Polecat even fixes fans!

I've heard mixed reviews of Polecat, Eurasian Lynx is fairly stable or so I'm lead to believe

Bite your tongue, mountebank! You know "PC" doesn't stand for Polecat for nothing you know!

 

[Jupiter551]

Oh, get your hands on the elusive Blue Sapid Polecat and you'll never have problems again! Polecat even fixes fans!

I've heard mixed reviews of Polecat, Eurasian Lynx is fairly stable or so I'm lead to believe

Bite your tongue, mountebank! You know "PC" doesn't stand for Polecat for nothing you know!

:violence-smack: polecats aren't even cats - they're a type of weasel, you brazen charlatan!

 

[Alana Cruise]

Anyone know why google chrome would have a robotic sound on MFC? My skype is ok and other browsers are ok. I have reinstalled flash and chrome. MFC won't answer me and my SO who is a tech geek says I dunno. Help?

 

[Jupiter551]

Anyone know why google chrome would have a robotic sound on MFC? My skype is ok and other browsers are ok. I have reinstalled flash and chrome. MFC won't answer me and my SO who is a tech geek says I dunno. Help?

I don't know why but I know you're not the only one whose had this lately, I suspect the models will know cos I know some of them fixed it (I just can't remember who)

 

[UncleThursday]

Anyone know why google chrome would have a robotic sound on MFC? My skype is ok and other browsers are ok. I have reinstalled flash and chrome. MFC won't answer me and my SO who is a tech geek says I dunno. Help?

Chrome uses its own built in Flash, not the newest version you downloaded, unless you disable it.

Type chrome://plugins/ in your chrome's address bar and look for Adobe Flash Player. There should be a "Native Client" and "Shockwave Flash 11.5 r31" listed. Disable the native client and see if that helps. Disabling this will make Chrome use the Flash client installed on your system instead of its own native Flash client (which is out of date and crashes a ton).

 

[Nordling]

Oh, get your hands on the elusive Blue Sapid Polecat and you'll never have problems again! Polecat even fixes fans!

I've heard mixed reviews of Polecat, Eurasian Lynx is fairly stable or so I'm lead to believe

Bite your tongue, mountebank! You know "PC" doesn't stand for Polecat for nothing you know!

:violence-smack: polecats aren't even cats - they're a type of weasel, you brazen charlatan!

Taxonomy Nazi!!!

 

[Jupiter551]

Taxonomy Nazi!!!

I prefer the term 'Taxonomy Right-wing extremist nutbag' tyvm, and I mean the nazi kind, not the fox news kind.

 

[Nordling]

Taxonomy Nazi!!!

I prefer the term 'Taxonomy Right-wing extremist nutbag' tyvm, and I mean the nazi kind, not the fox news kind.

Ha! You win.

 

[PinkiePixi]

Anyone know why google chrome would have a robotic sound on MFC? My skype is ok and other browsers are ok. I have reinstalled flash and chrome. MFC won't answer me and my SO who is a tech geek says I dunno. Help?

Chrome uses its own built in Flash, not the newest version you downloaded, unless you disable it.

Type chrome://plugins/ in your chrome's address bar and look for Adobe Flash Player. There should be a "Native Client" and "Shockwave Flash 11.5 r31" listed. Disable the native client and see if that helps. Disabling this will make Chrome use the Flash client installed on your system instead of its own native Flash client (which is out of date and crashes a ton).

Mine does the same thing! I just disabled that though, so... tonight I shall find out if it works! Yay! Ty! I hope it does - chrome is the only browser I have that works with camtwist! For the longest time I only cammed on chrome, and it was fine. Then suddenly one day I started sounding like a decepticon.

 

[Alana Cruise]

Well I tried the disable the native client and restarted my comp and nada. I am unsure of what to do next. Maybe checking for help on google chrome.

 

[Jupiter551]

you disabled pepper flash? that's the problematic one. If that doesn't work I'd find flash on your computer (a google search will help you find the directory) and completely remove it. Then you can start from scratch. Second option is to use firefox.

 

[Airwolfe]

Well I tried the disable the native client and restarted my comp and nada. I am unsure of what to do next. Maybe checking for help on google chrome.

You don't need to disable Native Client. Native Client http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/an ... er=1647344 has nothing to do with Flash Player.

You need to have the "real" Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ on your computer.

You need to disable that junk ass, fake ass, no good for nothing Google Chrome Pepper Flash Player. (PepperFlashPlayer.plugin)

Make sure that the "real" Adobe Flash Player plug-in is enabled. (Flash Player.plugin)

This link http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/an ... wer=108086 tells you how to do it.

 

[Alana Cruise]

ok chrome is acting up again. Sound is fine but pic is boxy. IDK what to do about flash or how to fix this issue. So friggin annoying. No problems anywhere but MFC. I assume it is flash IDK what else but def chrome bc the pic is good on safari. ( I need chrome tho for camtwist to cam)