Duplicate phantom icons appearing all over the launchpad

[AJ1013]

After installing the Developer Preview 3, I downloaded the update for iMovie but due to an connection error it got cancelled, and I had to redownload it from Purchases. I realized then that there was a the normal iMovie icon which worked and a phantom iMovie icon next to it which appeared to be stuck downloading.

I have tried the wiggle delete, the restart dock, killall and none of them have worked so I tried deleting and redownloading the app but now the original icon is gone and there are 3 invalid copies in the launchpad. The same problem has now occurred with the iwork applications. How can I delete these invalid icons?

Thanks in advance.

 

[w0lf]

I'd try this http://gnuu.org/2011/07/21/clearing-launchpad-and-other-osx-lion-tips/

 

[AJ1013]

I tried it but running the Terminal commands returns an error:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps; \
>   DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;" \
>   && killall Dock

Error: no such table: apps

 

[jakeyos]

I'm also having this error explaining there is no table called 'apps'. Curiously all the apps that I'm having this problem with are downloaded from the App Store.

 

[haravikk]

Sounds more like the problem may be an entry in the downloading_apps table, but if the apps table is missing then Apple may have changed the database layout.

You can use the sqlite3 command to inspect the new structure, for example by doing:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table';"

This will give you the name of the tables to inspect, but if you're not comfortable with SQL then I'm not sure I can recommend digging around to see if you can find the offending entries. But if you still have a downloading_apps table then you could at least take a look at what's inside (if anything):

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "SELECT * FROM downloading_apps;"

If it seems to contain the offending entries, then it should be okay to just delete them by changing 'SELECT * FROM' to 'DELETE FROM', though you may need to force Launchpad to restart, or logout and back in, or restart your computer.

 

[w0lf]

or you could just delete the db file to reset LaunchPad to default.

 

[AJ1013]

The tables that are returned from the haravikk's first query are:
pictures
preferences
spaces
displays
data
prefs

but the second query says that downloading_apps does not exist.

wolf, how do I delete the file or restart it?

 

[w0lf]

wolf, how do I delete the file or restart it?

Obviously you didn't even read the article I posted.

If someone takes the time to answer your question for you at least have the courtesy to read the answer...

You'll probably need to restart the Dock, maybe even restart the computer, to have changes take effect and you'll have to reselect your Desktop background afterwards as well.

 

[AJ1013]

Since you first post it, I read and did everything that the post advised. The fact that I have never been gone that deep on the computer files means that I was not that sure what I was doing in the process. Thats why I didn't realise that what you said and the blog post where the same thing. And no, it didn't solve the problem the solution proposed.

UPDATE #1: The desktoppicture.db file that is in the Dock folder keeps reappearing after killallDock o restarting the computer and the icons remain still

 

[jakeyos]

Are the dead icons in launchpad represented in anyway on the Applications folder?

 

[AJ1013]

No, they are not. Searched any residual files that might be hidden or linked to the Applications folder but there appears to be none. Even if I delete the working apps from Applications or the .db file, the dead icons are not affected by those actions.

 

[vnttr]

Same problem here.

No, they are not. Searched any residual files that might be hidden or linked to the Applications folder but there appears to be none. Even if I delete the working apps from Applications or the .db file, the dead icons are not affected by those actions.

 

[.maxx]

Hey guys, how about some search!

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=19383381#post19383381

 

[AJ1013]

Thanks very much, that worked wonderfully