Can't change system preferences

System preferences are locked. I click on the lock and the adminstrator's name and password box opens. I put in my info and it doesn't recongnize me. I'm too tired to spend the 2-3 hours searching trying to find the answer...
Wish I never upgraded to 10.5, it's been one problem after another... Shame on Apple. They are usually better then this..

BUICKWILSON,
Investigate: Learn how to resolve Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation, startup, or login issues.
;~)

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Can't open system preferences in macbook pro OS X v10.6.8

Can't open system preferences. Says it may be damaged or incomplete.

Thank you for answer.
I can't use or create a guest account, 'cause it's in system preferenses, and last user did't create it neiher. When i try to change user, i can only see account of last user. I go to <accounts>, and it shows me that:
Last login: Thu Feb 9 23:40:41 on ttys000
MacBook-Pro:~ *n*y*o*d*$ /Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/Growl ; exit;
-bash: /Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/Growl: cannot execute binary file
logout
[Process completed]
I'm really sorry, but it is my frst mac and i dont understan anything..
Thank you

How can I change the preference order of stored wi-fi networks?

How can I change the preference order of stored wi-fi networks? (My iPhone keeps trying to connect to a weaker network that I occasionally use - even when there's a stronger network stored in the system which I want to rank higher)

If you know and have entered and connected successfully to the weaker network whenever you come near it it will automatically connect to it.
If you want it to connect it to the stronger network you should go to the wireless settings and connect to the stronger one when both the networksare in range.this will make your stronger network as the default network connection.

I´M using Lion 10.7.3 and I can´t running system preferences

I´M using Lion 10.7.3 and I can´t running system preferences. I can´t change or check anything because the screen is "frozen" and the time of response is over and I must to force quit of the app.

Do a safe boot. Then remove the system preference plist
www.apple.com/support/lion - link to Lion Community
If you want MacBook Pro Community
www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

I've been getting the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by the computer". I can't open system preferences, disk utility, or Time Machine. I'm guessing it has something to do with my external hard drive, although it hasn't been touched.

I've been getting the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by the computer". I can't open system preferences, disk utility, or Time Machine. I'm guessing it has something to do with my external hard drive, although it hasn't been touched lately, but I can't figure out how to solve the problem. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Thanks for your quick response. I had a look at your discussion... I tried it on a Windows machine and I thought that was compatible with ExFAT?
Therefore I need to attempt to use my external hard drive with a machine that boasts OS X 10.6.5 or above and then it should work?
Thanks

How can i navigate system preferences if trackpad is not working somehow the option were unchecked

How can i navigate system preferences if trackpad is not working?
Somehow the first couple of trackpad functions were unchecked and since they are not operational I can't click or tap to turn them back on.
I've tried shutting down and restarting and holding my hand on the trackpad for 3-4 sec. then sliding it off (another post had this suggestions).
I don't use the function keys at all to navigate the computer so I am at a total loss if the trackpad does not work.

Thanks for the response.
Unfortunately this did not work - the tap to click is still not checked - and the tap function does not work.
I did try it twice - and even used a stopwatch to be sure I got the time right.
I noticed there is also an instruction to reset PRAM (was with the SMC reset instructions). Is that something that may help?

Can i change system time using java

hi guys can i change system time using java iam doing one app in that i have to change the system time (my os is windowsXP) please tell me how to change the time

What does this have to do with Swing?
Well, there is no Java API that I'm aware of.
However you can execute any Windows command by using the Runtime class. So you should be able to invoke the Time command.
Search the Java Programming forum. There are plenty of examples on using the Runtime.exec(...) command.

Can I access system preferences, WHILE migration assistant is running on the source computer, to change the sleep setting?

I have started Migration Assistant and have NOW learned that I was supposed to change the sleep setting in System Preferences to 'never'. Since M.A. is running right now, can I change the setting or will it mess up the transferring of data??

Thank you for responding. We did continually move the cursor for a few hours, but still had 13 hours to go, so after feeling we had nothing to loose, we did go into System Preferences to turn off sleep mode and we were able to do so on the source computer. Now in the morning we see that MA kept running for 8 additional hours.

Can't Open System Preferences...

Hello,
I have had my Macbook since early Sept. and so far I'm a big supporter! Everything runs great and I haven't had any trouble until now. Recently though, I noticed that I can't open the 'System Preferences' on this machine. When I click on it under the blue apple icon in the upper left corner, nothing happens...
Also, if I go to the Energy Drop-down menu, I can select the preset energy modes without trouble, but when I click on 'Open Energy Saver...', it doesn't open it, but instead opens a finder window that takes me to the /hard_disk/Library/Preferences/ folder, with 'EnergySaver.prefPane' highlighted. (The same thing happens when I click on the Display Preferences in the Displays dropdown menu- it takes me to the same location with 'Displays.prefPane' highlighted).
The system otherwise behaves normally- nothing else seems to be affected- I just can't change any of the settings that I set up some months ago.
I have tried 'Repairing Permissions' (as outlined in other forum articles) multiple times, and have verified the disk using the same utility- everything checks out fine.
Does any one have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Quasar373
Macbook 2GHz Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1GB RAM

Have you installed any software that adds a Preference pane (Flip4Mac and DivX add new ones, for example)? If so, try uninstalling that software a it may be causing the issue.
Barring that, without being able to create a new account we can try troubleshooting the whole Preferences folder for your user account.
Open ~/Library and drag the Preferences folder to the desktop. Log out and back in and a new one will be created with default settings. If you can open System Preferences now then we know it's definitely one (or more) of the files in the Preferences folder.
This is where it gets fun... and by "fun" I mean "monotonous".
Open a Finder window showing ~/Library/Preferences and another one showing ~/Desktop/Preferences. Move them where you can see them both.
Now drag small groups of 4 or 5 files from ~/Desktop/Preferences to ~/Library/Preferences. After you drag each group of 4 or 5 files, log out and back in and see if you can open System Preferences. If you still can then carry on to the next group of files.
Eventually you'll find that when you put a group of files in, System Preferences won't open again. Remove that group of files and add them back in 1 at a time, logging out and in after each individual file. Eventually you'll isolate it to a single file. Toss that file into the trash.
If I had my Mac I'd see if I could figure out which specific files affect System Preferences and have you pull just those ones. Unfortunately I won't have it for a couple of days.
Remember, if an answer helped you, post back and let us know.

How can I start System Preferences from the command line?

Hello All,
I have an issue I'm not quite sure how to solve. I have been tasked within my business environment with tightening security on a Mac Leopard system and I've been granted Admin Rights to do this on a temporary basis.
The problem is as follows:
1) The original Sys Admin that set up this system is gone, no longer available.
2) He was a Dvorak Keyboard fan and set up the system for a Dvorak Keyboard.
3) The system actually has a standard Apple keyboard and is marked accordingly, i.e., qwerty (Most Users in the building have stopped using this system altogether - a terrible waste of a good system - even though some of their apps can be run normally (US style qwerty settings). The command line is useless, as is texteditor.app and a few others unless you know Dvorak layout)
5) When I open System Preferences, the Dvorak keyboard checkbox is grayed out and I cannot change it. There is no lock at the bottom of that particular screen for me to unlock.
6) Even though I select the US Keyboard at Login, and some apps work accordingly (like MatLab for example) the terminal is borderline useless. I spent over 2 hrs yesterday doing what should have been able to be done in about 30 minutes. I estimate a frustrating and mistake prone additional 8 to 10 hours to do what is normally a a 4 hour job at the command-line.
7) I do not have the time or desire to re-mark all the keys on the keyboard, particularly since it is not my call to do so, nor do I have the time to re-learn Dvorak touch-typing, and finally I do not want to re-load the entire system. I just want to change the darn keyboard to a standard qwerty keyboard that is somewhat useful in a terminal environment with vi, command line, etc. It's either that or I go mildly insane
This is frustrating as all get-out. The new Admin logged in and was able to uncheck his Dvorak settings (he is not a UNIX guy, nor is he comfortable om Macs), and we were hoping this was a system wide setting, but No. We re-booted the system, I logged in, still Dvorak, and the checkbox was still grayed out.
So I figure, short of re-loading the entre system and all the applications necesary, I can either start the Systems Preferences GUI using sudo and hopefully that will change system-wide settings, or I can delete the .AppleSetupDone file and resetup the system (if the keyboard settings are part of the setup) without spending a couple of days reloading everything and re-setting up users, networks, etc.
Needless to say, I am hoping for the easiest and quickest solution to this extremely frustrating and aggravating problem.
Thanks.

For my situation the following C# code does the job:
    Process.Start(
       @"c:\Program Files\National Instruments\CVI71\cvi.exe",
       @"c:\temp\experiment.c" );
The file must already exist.

Remotely changing System Preferences via Firewire?

Hi all,
I've got an old mac mini and a new Mac book. The trick is, I've just moved overseas and don't have a monitor for the mini any longer. I have bought a cable to connect it to my tv, but I'm afraid the tv is too old, and won't play nice with the mini! Of course I cannot afford a new monitor either!
My goal is to set up the Mini as a home server for my MacBook and a windows machine. To do so I need to adjust all of three settings. The trick is, I can't figure out how to get in to change the preferences in order to make this possible.
I can start the Mini in Target disc mode, but of course cannot install any screen sharing software, etc. remotely. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could get access to the mini's System Preferences? Could I do that through Terminal? Boot camp?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
JakeOle

Hi Jake, and Welcome to the Discussions!
You could change the Sharing settings in...
Mini's /Library/Preferences/com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist
You'd likely have to use Terminal to reset the Permissions on it after saving it again though.
The Mini is pretty portable... know a friend with a Monitor?

Changing system preferences automatically

When I use a mouse with my mac I like "scroll direction: natural" turned off and I like to enable hot corners. I was wondering If I could create an app via Automator or AppleScript that I could click that would set up my computer for either mouse or trackpad use. I don't know if there are terminal commands for the the things I want to do, and if someone knows them, or knows where I can find them, that would be nice. Another thing I wanted to try was make an AppleScript that opened up system preferences and just clicked in the right spots to change my settings and then closed system preferences, but I couldn't get the click command to work ("System Events got an error: Can’t make {x, y} into type list."). If someone knows how to do this one of the ways I mentioned, or some other way, please let me know.

"pages automatically upload when i turn on my mac"
Go to System Preferences > General and uncheck the box dealing with "Restoring Windows ...." Read here about "Resume."

Changing System Preferences

I work in an office at a university which maintains all the teaching classroom computers, and we periodically reinstall OS X and generally refresh all our Macs once (or more) a year from a custom-made image which has all of the proper software set up, etc. There are a lot of computers, and it's a pretty time consuming process, so I thought it would be helpful to create an Applescript that automatically fills all the network settings back in through System Preferences instead of doing each one manually. I've only just started learning Applescript, and while I'm pretty sure this can be done, I'm just not sure how. I've read through tons of tutorials, but I can't come up with a solution.
I have been using Xcode to create a nice interface, and what I would like to do is create a drop-down list of all the classrooms, so whoever is running the Applescript can choose a room from the list and the script will change the computer's IP and network settings. I have gotten as far as making System Preferences open up and change to Network settings, but beyond that I am having trouble. I need to know how I can get Applescript to modify the text fields in the Network pane. I have tried many different methods for this, but I can't seem to come up with one that actually works.
Can someone tell me (or point me in the direction of a good tutorial) how to modify the contents of text fields with Applescript? I think I can figure the rest out once I get past this little hurdle, but meanwhile it's driving me crazy. Thank you in advance.

> Can someone tell me (or point me in the direction of a good tutorial) how to modify the contents of text fields with Applescript?
I'd recommend a different approach.
While it is possible to modify text files via AppleScript, if you're manipulating preferences you should familiarize yourself with the defaults command.
defaults gives you command line access to the preferences system. You may need to do this anyway since many preference files are moving to a binary .plist file rather than text files.
man defaults will give you the basics. You can invoke this via AppleScript's do shell script command if you want an AppleScript solution.

Using Automator to change System Preference when opening an app

Hello everyone,
I have been using a Mac for a good 8 years now and I'm a happy user. I recently found out about Automator ('hey what is this little robot for?') and what it can do, yet I lack the knowledge of finding out what I must do to make a script to perform the following thing:
When I launch an app (FL Studio), I want the box checked next to 'Use F1 and F2 as standard function keys' in the Keyboard preferences pane in the System Preferences app.
When I close the same app (FL Studio), I want the box unchecked next to 'Use F1 and F2 as standard function keys' in the Keyboard preference pane in the System Preferences app.
I have found several other topics about this subject, however, those were about scripts when logging in to your computer, and not upon opening/closing an app. Please note that I am seeking for the setting to be changed when the app is opened and closed.
I hope you can help,
Sander

This kind of question comes up a lot - how to run a script when an application launches/quits.
The short answer is that it's not easy to do directly, unless the application itself supports launching scripts on startup/quit (hint: few do).
Fortunately, a little difference in thinking can give you the same effect.
Rather than trying to have your script trigger AFTER the app launches, rethink your process to a script that FIRST changes the preference, THEN launches the app. You get the same result but about 14 billion times easier to implement.
In this case, write a script to set the function key preference, then launch FL Studio. The script can then hang around to wait for the app to quit and reset the pref.
Furthermore, don't try to do this the human way (open System preferences, select Keyboard, check the box). You can set the preference directly via the defaults command line utility:
on run
do shell script "defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.keyboard.fnState 1"
tell application "FL Studio" to activate
end run
Resetting the preference is a little trickier since you need to detect when FL Studio has quit. You can do this with an idle() handler in your script that hangs around, periodically checking if the app is still running and then taking action:
on idle
tell application "System Events"
if (name of every application process) contains "FL Studio" then
-- app is still running, so come back and check later:
return 10
else
do shell script "defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.keyboard.fnState 0"
tell me to quit
end if
end tell
end idle
Putting these together in a Stay Open script should do much of what you want.

Changing System Preference value

Hi
Have been trying to change a keyboard shortcut in the "Expose and Spaces" pane. By default the dashboard shortcut is set to "F12" and I would like to set it to "F8". This would become an option for a user when they have logged in. They could run the script to free up the "F12" shortcut that's in use by another programme. Thought the following code would have worked:
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
set value of pop up button 4 of group 2 of tab group 1 of window "Exposé & Spaces" to "F8"
end tell
end tell
If anyone out there has any clues to get this working I would be grateful. Ideally a "defaults write" shell command would be the preferred route. I'm open to all suggestions.
Thanks

Hi,
These preferences are scriptable under Leopard via System Events, and although you don't say specifically, I'm assuming that you're running Leopard because you're using Spaces.
The problem is that the default shortcut for Spaces is already set to F8, and if you don't change it to something else first then you can't set the Dashboard shortcut to F8.
This works for me:
tell application "System Events"
tell expose preferences
set properties of show spaces shortcut to {function key:F7}
set properties of dashboard shortcut to {function key:F8}
end tell
end tell
When the script is compiled or run the third line changes to:
set properties of application bindings to {function key:F7}
But F7 continues to work as the shortcut for showing Spaces. A bug, I reckon.
Hope this helps.
H

Can't change system preferences

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