No Startup Disk Icons in System Preferences

I've been combing the discussion forums several days and haven't had any success: I'm running OS X 10.2.8 on a 800 MHZ PowerPC G4. My problem is the when I attempt to open the system prefernces folder start up disk preference pane it doesnt display either of the 2 40 Gig hard drives that I have installed and I have force quit System Preferences. Then I have to do a manual re-boot.
I've tried to trash the system preferences cache temporarily and restart and I downloaded the shareware "Pacifist' and extracted the old StartUp PreferencePane folder and installed a new one and the issue is sitll there.
I would rather not create a seperate partition and re-install the old operating system or do a clean install, especially since I'm motivated to upgrade to Tiger OS. If I did upgrade, would it trash any potential corrupted files?? I'm hoping that would be an easy solution. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated at this point. Thanks!

petra:
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
The first think I would try is:
Repair Disk
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
If DU reports errors it cannot repair you will need to use a utility like Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior
Then:
Repair Disk Permissions
While booted from the internal HDD:
Go to (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in left column and First Aid in main column.
Click Repair Disk Permissions at bottom left.
Take a look at Dr. Smoke's FAQ Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption.
If I did upgrade, would it trash any potential corrupted files??
If you decide to re-install, or upgrade to Tiger, I suggest that you wipe the disk then install Tiger. That should definitely take care of things.
Please, do post back and let me know if anything worked, or with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius

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On both Mini Mac and iMac 27" I am no longer able to utalize the Startup Disk icon in System Preferences; the Windows 8 on Bootcamp partition works fine if I close the Mavericks OX and select the Windows partition at bootup from the hard drive. My question is why don't the icon in System Prederences work anymore since I upgraded to Mavericks. Also, Users & Groups, Printers & Scanners icons no longer work either.

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"Why does the other volume with an OS on it not show up in that pane?"
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Wish I could post a pic, but I can't. The icon for the Startup Disk in my System Preferences is all messed up. It's way too wide, looks like a light switch with a circle or something down in the corner, and the title isn't even there.
Old skool: rebuild the desktop.
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Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions ...
It could be that your System Preferences are corrupted. It happens... Try this. Locate this file;
com.apple.systempreferences.plist It's here: /Home/Library/Preferences. Open the Preferences folder, locate that file, drag it to the Trash, empty the Trash and reboot. Go to your System Preferences/Startup Disk pane and see if the icon is behaving.
Also, if you haven't already done so, create a new user: System Preferences/Accounts and see if the System Preferences/Startup Disk icon looks like it should in that account. The reason for doing this is to see if the problem is system wide or just your Home Folder.
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Carolyn

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Mar 29 10:26:21 xxx-xxxxxxx's-powermacg3series /usr/sbin/update: FIXME: IOUnserialize has detected a string that is not valid UTF-8, " ˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇ". I am not sure that this is pertinent, however.
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Why does my mac show in Startup Disk section of System Preferences that I have OS X Lion Server?

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Any help?
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Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From The Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
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Startup Disk Icon in Preferences Changed..change back?

For some reason, the icon for Startup Disk in the System Preferences changed on me, and I am unsure of how to change it back. I have already tried repairing permissions with no sucess. If someone could let me know how to change it back and (if i need it) send me the icon or point me to where the original icon would be. Thanks in advance.
Here is a picture of the current icon: /___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
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MacBook 1.83 GHz, 1 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) HP zv5000 P4 2.8 Ghz (128 ATI 9000, 512 mb, XP); PowerMac G4 400 AGP 1 GB OSX 10.3.9

hi - Welcome to Apple Discussions!
try this:
Open your hard drive > Library > Caches folder in the finder...
Drag the file named com.apple.preferencepanes.cache to your Desktop...
look at System Preferences again - is it o.k.?
if so, trash that prefpanes cache file on your desktop...
if not, post back...
cheers

Corrupt icons in System Preferences panel?

For some strange reason, the 'Startup Disk' icon in my system preferences panel has changed...it looks like a giant light switch and you can see a bit of a border around it. Is there any way to reset this back to normal?
You can check out an image here: http://web.mac.com/jhurtig/
I'm running 10.4.6 on a Macbook 2 GHz with all the latest updates installed.

Hi Jonas, delete these two files and relaunch SystemPreferences:
~(yourhome)/library/caches/com.apple.preferencepanes.cache
~(yourhome)/library/preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
-mj
[email protected]

No startup disk for windows in preferences on Mac

I re-installed Snow Leopard, an already had a Boot Camp partition for WinXP Home SP3. All went fine but...
There's no startup disk icon in startup disk options on the Mac.
Sometimes I hold down option key to chose Mac or Windows and it's fine, bit if I boot to windows, the next time it auto boots to windows everytime, even with key held in. I then, in windows, chose boot camp icon in taskbar and chose "restart in Mac OSX" and it does.. Now however it boots to Mac everytime!
I didn't do a re-install of the boot camp partition, as was all fine installation wise after I did with Snow Leopard.
Anyone help please
Cheers

Still having bother with this, can anyone help please.
The Windows disk doesnt show up in Mac OS on "startup disk preference", when in windows boot camp, both the Mac OSX and Windows partition show up.
Sometimes if I boot into Mac, I then cant boot into Windows via the "option key", if I've been in Windows, I cannot get to Mac with option key, have to goto boot camp options and "restart in Mac OSX"
So something is messed up, can anyone help please? I use Mac and its fine, but kids use Windows, and when I'm not in it doesnt work, so its difficult to explain over phone.
I have a wireless keyboard and it seems it doesnt switch on when booting up iMac, so the option key isnt detected - again randomly
cheers

Invisible Startup Disk Icon on Desktop and Finder

Today suddenly I found that my Startup disk icon was gone from the desktop and from the Finder. I did some searching and found the following solution that may be useful for someone else:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4932292#post4932292
I pasted the solution below:
from a Terminal window, type:
ls -lOd /
(That's lowercase ell, lowercase ess, space, minus, lowercase ell, capital oh, lowercase dee, space, forward slash)
You should get something like this:
hostname:~ username$ ls -lOd /
drwxrwxr-t 32 root admin - 1156 Feb 8 20:35 /
Sounds like you might see something like this instead:
hostname:~ username$ ls -lOd /
drwxrwxr-t@ 32 root admin hidden 1156 Feb 8 20:35 /
(note it says "hidden" instead of "-")
To fix this, type:
sudo chflags nohidden /
and provide your admin password. You won't get any output back from the command but the icon should now appear on your desktop, and the hidden flag should go away if you repeat the 'ls -lOd /' command.
And just in case you missed it above, you've got to be sure Hard disks are turned on in Finder General Preferences under "Show these items on the Desktop"

A few days after trying the solution in my previous post, I realized that the Startup disk icon was still missing from Devices in the Finder's sidebar.
So, following some advice from other forums, I went and deleted com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.sidebarlists.plist from homedirectory/library/preferences. Then did a control-option-click on Finder in the Dock and chose "relaunch".
So this completed the fix. Coincidentally this also fixed a "freeze" issue that I was having.

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Never seen this before. This morning I noticed that Software Update icon in System Preferences changed from the regular one to a BIG switch. Noticed this only in MBP.

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The "speech" icon in System Preferences looks like a white oversized box with a lightswitch in it. The word "speech" is cut off along the bottom of this box-like icon.
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Hi, JdotL.
1. It sound like the Speech preference pane file has been assigned the icon for System Preferences. Does Speech preferences open if you click this?
2. Try removing System Preferences preferences and caches:1. Quit System Preferences if it is open.
2. Open your Home > Library > Caches folder, then trash the following two files therein:
- com.apple.preferencepanes.cache
- com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache
3. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences folder.
4. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.xxx.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences > ByHost folder, where xxx is an alphanumeric string.
5. Empty Trash.
6. Launch System Preferences and see if the problem is resolved.3. As a general checkup, I suggest you run the procedure outlined in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Why is there not a MobileMe icon in System Preferences on my Dome?

My MacBook Pro laptop has the MobileMe icon in system preferences but the Dome does not. Both hosts contain the latest software. Will this prevent the two hosts from syncing?

You've posted this in the iSync forum - the MobileMe forums are here:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=116
(iSync has nothing to do with MobileMe syncing, or the MobileMe icon in System Preferences).
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Cannon find Startup Disk icon

Well I found the Startup Disk icon okay but now I rebooted and cannot find it.
I looked in the control panel under "Performance and Maintenance" in the category view. And also in the Classic View it has disapeared as well.
What cna I do about this? I cannot figure out how to boot back into OSX?
cheers,
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Supposedly... holding the "x" key down when booting defaults to booting OSXS... never tried it... since I need a "9" key! LOL:-)

No Startup Disk Icons in System Preferences

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