Documents/files on desktop disappear and reappear constantly.

[nooneye]

Could anyone please help me solve this problem I'm having with my Mac?

All the documents, files and icons displayed on my desktop keep disappearing and then reappearing whenever I do anything - though especially when I save or update something, create a new folder or rename a document/file. Sometimes they don't reappear at all and I am forced to restart the system.

I use a Mac Mini Power PC G4 (1.2) with OS X 10.4.11 and I have an external hard drive which I use to save most of my files and documents onto.

Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[RemarkabLee]

Try a PRAM reset followed by a disk permissions check.

See the guides area in MacRumors for more details.

 

[nooneye]

Okay, I'll try that. Hopefully that'll do the trick. Thanks very much for the advice.

 

[valhopkins]

I'm having a similar problem

I, too, have a G4 powerbook running 10..4.11, and only recently have been experiencing some bizarre activity. My desktop icons (there are only 2; the HD and a jpg) keep disappearing and reappearing, without my hands navigating off the keyboard. I also have a frustrating issue where my active window (this forum page, for instance) becomes inactive, so while I'm in the middle of typing (it JUST happened again) all of a sudden my typing disappears, and I have to re-select the window that I was in to finish typing (or navigating the page). This happens with or without an external mouse. It happens with or without my palms resting on the computer while typing. This happens AFTER zapping the PRAM and also after resetting my firmware. This is a new issue; first started within the past day or two. The only software I added recently was my BlackBerry software for syncing.

Any thoughts?

I was totally stoked, because it's been running so well, too!

I use a cooling pad with a USB fan, although the fans were not on or plugged in during the issues. Could be that it's running warm, I guess.

geez.

 

[richard.mac]

does the dot/arrow under the Finder dock icon disappear and reappear when this happens? if so Finder is probably relaunching. try trashing the Finder plist in the home Library's Preferences folder and then enter the below command in Terminal.

killall Finder

 

[xUKHCx]

Could anyone please help me solve this problem I'm having with my Mac?

All the documents, files and icons displayed on my desktop keep disappearing and then reappearing whenever I do anything - though especially when I save or update something, create a new folder or rename a document/file. Sometimes they don't reappear at all and I am forced to restart the system.

I use a Mac Mini Power PC G4 (1.2) with OS X 10.4.11 and I have an external hard drive which I use to save most of my files and documents onto.

Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

This could be the problem listed below however it sounds a little different. Do you get any error messages?
Is there anything in your console/crash logs about finder?

I, too, have a G4 powerbook running 10..4.11, and only recently have been experiencing some bizarre activity. My desktop icons (there are only 2; the HD and a jpg) keep disappearing and reappearing, without my hands navigating off the keyboard. I also have a frustrating issue where my active window (this forum page, for instance) becomes inactive, so while I'm in the middle of typing (it JUST happened again) all of a sudden my typing disappears, and I have to re-select the window that I was in to finish typing (or navigating the page). This happens with or without an external mouse. It happens with or without my palms resting on the computer while typing. This happens AFTER zapping the PRAM and also after resetting my firmware. This is a new issue; first started within the past day or two. The only software I added recently was my BlackBerry software for syncing.

Any thoughts?

I was totally stoked, because it's been running so well, too!

I use a cooling pad with a USB fan, although the fans were not on or plugged in during the issues. Could be that it's running warm, I guess.

geez.

Your problems sounds very much like this similar problem and is linked to the recent 7.6 quicktime update and stuffit. Here is the solution

That dood it! Thank you!

To anyone who found this post and is experiencing the same problem, the solution is:

1. Search for "Stuffit AVR" in finder
2. Open "Stuffit AVR"
3. Click [Stop]

Thanks!

 

[nooneye]

It's exactly the same as 'valhopkins' described as quoted below (resetting the PRAM makes no difference to my system either) and yes finder is mentioned in my crash log ('Finder.crash.log') and the date of the .log file/document updates to the most recent 'relaunch' (when all the files on my desktop disappear and reappear) when I relocate it in Finder.

I will try the suggested solution that you have posted. Thanks you all very much for your help.

I, too, have a G4 powerbook running 10..4.11, and only recently have been experiencing some bizarre activity. My desktop icons (there are only 2; the HD and a jpg) keep disappearing and reappearing, without my hands navigating off the keyboard. I also have a frustrating issue where my active window (this forum page, for instance) becomes inactive, so while I'm in the middle of typing (it JUST happened again) all of a sudden my typing disappears, and I have to re-select the window that I was in to finish typing (or navigating the page). This happens with or without an external mouse. It happens with or without my palms resting on the computer while typing. This happens AFTER zapping the PRAM and also after resetting my firmware. This is a new issue; first started within the past day or two. The only software I added recently was my BlackBerry software for syncing.

Any thoughts?

I was totally stoked, because it's been running so well, too!

I use a cooling pad with a USB fan, although the fans were not on or plugged in during the issues. Could be that it's running warm, I guess.

geez.