System preferences' "expose&spaces" problem

When i go to system preferences then to "expose & spaces," the function does not work and goes to an error report. Happens everytime I click for that function even after several system restarts and shutdowns.
I don't have a clue what happened because all the other functions like "display," "keyboard," "accounts," etc. do work like it should.
What is happened? And how can i get it to work normally again?
I have a MBP15 barely a month old, so this is absolutely unacceptable behavior for a system at this caliber.

Go to your Users/Library/Preferences and search for a file with
systempreferences.plist
and drag it to your desktop and reboot, reset your system preferences and see if that works.
If your system preferences hold, then trash the dekstop file, it was rebuilt.

Similar Messages

System Preferences Exposé & Spaces Quit Unexpectedly

All other preferences work as normal. (System Preferences > Exposé & Spaces) just shows "Loading Exposé and Spaces..." and nothing comes up. If I select it again I get a Problem Report for System Preferences. This menu function was accessed within the last week and was functioning as normal. As far as this problem goes, I have repaired the disk permissions, cleared the caches at "~/Library/Caches" and the preferences at "~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist". This removal of the plist hasn't reset the spaces or exposé to default -- they remain as were configured earlier this week.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
May or may not be related to the issue : (although I feel that this may have nothing to do with it)
This week had to take it to the Apple Store for a trackpad height adjust. There also was a diagnostic (looked like some kind of os9 window) and they probably reset the pram. Upon booting at home I had noticed that my settings for my home network were gone, and had to reconfigure. Also a couple of 3rd party programs needed a reinstall.
regards,
shortcut

MacGunt wrote:
Ya, I'd say it's likely something in your preferences folder. What you could try is quitting all your apps, moving all of the plist files to a new folder and testing it. If this fixes it then put those plists back 5 or 10 at a time until you've determined which file is casuing the problem.
This suggestion sounds in the right direction. I will probably have to do that soon but I am a bit confused about "all of the plist files." Would I do this to the entire ~/Library/Preferences?
I also used Pacifist to extract and install Expose.prefPane and I noticed something different for Expose.prefPane. The Sharing & Permission under Get Info show: username(Me) /Read & Write, staff / Read only, and everyone / Read only. The other .prefPane files show: system / Read & Write, wheel / Read only, everyone / Read only. This may or may not be at fault, but I am wondering if you or anyone else's /System/Library/PreferencePanes shows this to be standard.
shortcut

When I go to system preferences expose and spaces is not there for me as an option. What can I do to restore it?

I have tried to fix permissions and restart and that did not help it show back up and I have also deleted the system preferences cache and still nothing. What can I do?

I also miss the grid layout of spaces. In fact, I'm considering downgrading back to Snow Leopard just to get it back. I used to use command+arrow keys to move around in my grid of spaces. I used to use a hot corner to initiate spaces, then another hot corner to initiate expose while "zoomed out" in spaces. I used to be able to click any window of any app in any space and move it to any other space. I used to be able to move an entire space to another location.
Now I've upgraded to Lion and I cannot do any of that. Serious downgrade, serious loss of efficiency. I've taken the time to learn how Lion handles all this. I've taken the time to change options to try to make MC more efficient. Simply put, it's a downgrade that breaks something great from Snow Leopard.
For example: Initiate Mission Control while on desktop 1 and I see a window on desktop 2 that I want on desktop 3. In order to move that, I have to first switch to desktop 2, initiate MC, then move the app. Not to mention, if that window were under another window, I'd not be able to see it at all!
For example: In SL, to go from space 1 to 9 on a 3x3 layout, I could use command+right, down, down, right. On Lion, I have to use comand+right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. seriously? Sure, I could use command+9 (if that's even where Lion decided it wanted to keep the app!), but I prefer the efficiency of using 1 hand to do the keyboard shortcut.
Tell Apple you want the option of having spaces in a grid again. Who knows, maybe if enough of us do, they'll bring it back: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
Message was edited for grammar by: pistolpete_sf

Can't access System Preferences in Spaces

Quite frequently I find myself unable to access System Preferences.
I think it may be a Spaces issue and I think it may happen if I close the System Preferences window.
If I Option-Command-Esc, the window shows System Preferences is running. But force quitting System Preferences has no effect.
If I Command-Tab, I see System Preferences in the row of icons. However selecting this icon has no effect, the System Preferences window does not come to the front.
Of course I can't open Spaces to try to resolve the problem because it is a System Preference.
The only solution I have found is to Logout and log back in.

Oops, never mind. I have a Wacom tablet connected to my Mac, and turns out that the system prefs window was showing up on that screen instead of my main display.
For future reference, is there a way to delete a post such as my first one?

"Appletalk disabled in system preferences" but it is?

Hello all: I have used a networkable Xerox 5400 with my tibook running system 10.2.8 for a while, but have been inactive on it for awhile too. I am getting a message "Appletalk disabled in system preferences" but I go into system prefs, make sure appletalk is enabled in the built-in ethernet tab, and am still getting this message. I have re-booted both the mac and the printer multiple times, have created new locations, have tested my ethernet connections with other devices (a router)with no luck. Am able to print with another mac with the same settings. Any suggestions? TIA

Hi Murman,
I noticed someone else had a similar problem to your error message "Appletalk disabled in system preferences" and their problem was solved.
Check it out at this link,
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2838974&#2838974
regards, roam

System Preferences Sporadically and Unilaterally Change

I find that my system preferences sometimes change unilaterally.
I have seen isolated posts on the discussion boards about specific preference settings being lost, but I think there is a general problem somewhere. Perhaps with corrupted preference files?
1) Most commonly, I find icons missing from the menu bar (usually bluetooth status, clock, or the flag that represents keyboard input menu, but sometimes my airport status icon disappears too). It is not that they all disappear all the time -- normally I will be working just fine and a few days later will notice that something is missing. I open system preferences, change the preference back to what I want, and all is fine for a while (maybe a couple of days, maybe 2 weeks). With the bluetooth status icon, in particular, I usually find that the preference is correctly set in System Preferences>Bluetooth; which means I have to uncheck it, click OK, then go back into System Preferences>Bluetooth and recheck it and click OK before it reappears in my menu bar. This has been a problem since 10.4.1.
2) I also have been noticing, lately, that my PowerBook does not always "remember" Wi-Fi networks to which I have previously (and quite recently) connected. For example, it does not remember my hidden home network, and it has on recent occasions "forgotten" the hidden network in my office. I can always easily rejoin the networks by entering the network name and network password, but Airport used to remember even hidden networks and would log on to them automatically as long as I had correctly logged in in the past. Accordingly, I suspect this is some sort of system preference or keychain problem. I think it pre-dates my recent upgrade to 10.4.4, but I am not 100% sure. It is a bit frustrating, though, because now that Tiger stores wi-fi network passwords in the System keychain -- which apparently has a different password from the normal administrator password, and which password is so secret that even I am not allowed to have it -- I have no way to go into the keychain to view passwords that I have forgotten (unfortunately, forgetting passwords is an increasingly frequent occurrence as passwords grow more complex and more numerous and as I advance in age).
Any ideas would be welcome.
DXB Law

Problem disappeared with an OS upgrade.

System Preferences - Trackpad settings not saving

This topic is refers to the location of System Preferences > Trackpad
The problem I am having is every time I modify this section of my system preferences and check in say for example 'Tap to click' when my MBP restarts or comes out of sleep they will be reset. Not always but happens quite frequently.
Any information or suggestions on how to prevent this from happening?

I have been having the same trackpad preference problem on my MacBook 10.6.8 . . .
I am not using any particular application that is special and should create a conflict . . . none of the ones anyone else has mentioned . . .
It seems that the issue usually happens when I reboot my computer . . . occasionally when I'm already in and using it . . .
It's annoying . . .

System preferences will not load

Hello, I am new to all of this and my expert is traveling. I read through this forum and saw some others had problems with system preferences. My problem is that I can not get system preferences to load when I click on it. I have tried the icon in the dock, the item in the blue Apple menu and even in the applications folder. When I click on any of these, nothing happens. This problem just started. I have not loaded any new software or updates in quite some time. Any ideas about how I can solve this problem? I am using a Powerbook G4 with Mac OS 10.4.9. Thank you!

"/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences: launch failed with error code -2857 (cfragCFragRsrcErr) for application /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences\n"
Wow, that's bizarre. "cfragCFragRsrcErr" means that the 'cfrg' resource could not be loaded, but that makes no sense whatsoever. Well, it makes sense in that System Preferences.app isn't a Code Fragment Manager application, but a native Mach-O executable. (Applications in OS 9 and prior used the "Code Fragment Manager" executable format, which involved a single file executable that had both a resource fork and a data fork. See this image for an example. In the resource fork would be the 'cfrg' resource which would define the various sections of executable code found in the data fork of the executable.)
Apple hasn't created any CFM applications in years; as you could see, I had to dig up Microsoft Word to find an example of that format. Instead, in OS X, most applications aren't single "flat" files, but are bundles or packages, which appear as a single file, but are a folder which contains the many individual files that make up the app.
It's a mystery to me why you'd be getting that kind of an error on an application that's not CFM. It would help if you ran the two commands I gave earlier and post the output you get. you can copy and paste one line at a time into the Terminal application and hit return.
<pre>
ls -la "/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences"
file "/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences"</pre>
The first command is attempting to get information about the executable file, the second command attempts to look at the internal contents of the file and see if it matches a known recognized type of file. I get the following:
MacBookPro:~ mdouma46$ ls -la "/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences"
-rwxrwxr-x 1 root wheel 250884 Apr 25 04:05 /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences
MacBookPro:~ mdouma46$ file "/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences"
/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures
/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences (for architecture i386): Mach-O executable i386
/Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences (for architecture ppc): Mach-O executable ppc

System preference not responding

HI, m system prefernce is hanged at changing wallpapers n screensavers dialog box n its not workin even after booting , Wat to do

Hello paulo:
Try trashing a preference file (com.apple.systempreferences.plist) and restarting (if you are saying system preferences are causing problems).
You might also reset the PRAM and SMC"
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
Barry

Cant find expose and spaces in system preferences

I cant seem ti find "expose and spaces" in system preferences. Can anybody help please?

Welcome to the Apple Support Community!
If you upgraded from Snow Lepoard OS 10.6.x that had Exposé and Space, then those two have been integrated into Mission Control in Lion OS 10.7.x. You can learn more in the Apple KB article Mac 101: Mission Control. Mission Control is in System Preferences. Another source of info about Mission Control, Exposé and Spaces is from the Help menu in the Finder. Just type any one of those elements in the search box and you should get a few articles that are connected to each other.
HTH

Problems with Spaces and System Preferences

Hello all. I previously had setup my spaces so that when I opened certain apps, they would open in specific spaces (ex. Safari opened in upper left space, system preferences opened in lower right space etc.). I had spaces setup so that there were 9 spaces. Now somehow my spaces got reset so that I have only 4. Whenever I open system preferences, or even open spaces preferences to change it, it opens, but does not appear, and when I hit the spaces button, there it is, overlapping my spaces, but I cannot click on it to change the settings, only choose a space to go to.
Heres what it looks like when i hit the spaces button:
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5122/picture1bw3.png

Hey guys i found a fix to this but its basically using System preferences blind, and toggling on and off the radio buttons for Expose and Spaces.
So to really understand my jumble of words to make you understand my weird train of thought. Its The Master & the Grasshopper Lesson on _'Believing without Seeing.'_
Young Apple Seed (aka Grasshopper), Just because one can not see what one is doing, does not mean one is doing nothing. This just means that the Mime is miming a mime action to a blind person.
So if you wish to not be the blind mad and the mime, do as it is written, and as you think. For one who goes down a path they choose they will sure be the Mime. And if you are, then you need an Mime EGO check.
_TO GET WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE_
1. If you don't already have SP (System Preferences) running then you will need to start the Application named SP.
2. When in SP, click on View | *Expose and Spaces*
+(If your here and saying how the bleep do I do this step. Then you need to Bleepity make sure that right next to the Apple Icon in the top left corner reads+ *System Preferences*, +Mr/Mrs/Ms Mime.)+
3. Press Tab +(ONE TIME)+
4. Press *Right --> Arrow* +(ONE TIME)+
*5. Press ⌘L +(ONE TIME)+
*6. Press ⌘[ +(ONE TIME)+
7. Press Tab
8. Press Tab
9. Press *Space Bar*
+(Now if you were doing each step while reading it on the screen then right after you did that last step like magic it appears.)+ The space bar toggled Enable or Disable Check box.
* These steps really should not be here but I noticed a bug that would make my steps not work correctly if these were not done. Usually when you press tab once in a 2 part option menu for SP its tabbed. And usually when you press the arrow key to go to the next tab, usually the focus is still on the tab for the next tab. But it doesn't and that isn't only on my system, its on many others i tried it on. So you Bug mashers or fixers this has been duped on several other systems that range from non-Intel, PowerMac, PowerPC, iMac, even non apple macs. but focus disappears and even if you pressed tab or the arrow keys nothing would happen and trust me you would be doing my steps over and over and then post something either on my profile that i'm a bleepity bleep bleep or something positive. But i'd like the positive comments, but hey if you want to leave me bleepity bleep bleep bleep bleep bleeps? Then i have one thing to say to you "BLEEP you!!"

System Preferences / Spaces

Please can someone on how to solve the problem of the missing Page
Action 1 click on System preference
2 Click on Expose & Spaces
3 Blank Page comes up With only the header
Also my F7 Key don't work, The Icon will give me Spaces
I Have completed a system repair which did not help me
Can some one help me
Steve

your dock preferences are likely corrupt.
delete the file homedirectory/library/preferences/com.apple.dock.plist and log out/in. your dock, spaces and exposé will be reset to the defaults.
but I wouldn't give up on spaces because of this glitch. it should now work fine.

Using Spaces (from the System Preferences)

I have enabled the Spaces from the System Preferences to keep my programs more organized. I use almost every program of the Adobe Suite on a regular basis. I had put the different programs in four different Spaces because I often have many windows open each program, so I like to keep them separated. When I move to a different program in my Adobe Suite my toolbars disappear and I have to hit Tab a couple times to get them back. This is very annoying especially when I am in the text tool. I am about to disable the Spaces. But I want to see if anyone out there knows what I can do if anything.

Nothing yet, Tiffany. Nobody has admitted responsibility for that glitch. Probably its just one of those things which has to do with development cycles and timing. CS3 was created and released before Leopard was available. Adobe seems to be on the next version and this issue doesn't really matter to them. Apple keeps changing their system often enough it is hard for the engineers who have to keep up with all the changes. The net result is that problems don't get addressed while new features are prized because they seem more valuable to the marketing department who appears to be dominant at Adobe.

How do I turn Exposé/Spaces off, without access to System Preferences because I disabled it's space?

I accidentally disabled a column of spaces where I had my System Preferences running, in "Exposé and Spaces".
Now I cannot access my System Preferences at all.
I can see System Preferences as a running application in the doc and command tabbing though running applications. I can also get to it this way and see the menu bar on the top of my screen and click through the menus and drop down menus, however I cannot see any windows.
I know that I can open different windows for if the System by selecting something in the drop down menus. Then I see the selected window if I click and hold down on the dock icon of the system preferences. However, as soon as I try to click on the window it disappears.
I know that my problem would be solved if I could turn off Spaces but how do I do this if I cannot access it though System Preferences?

After a long struggle and research I found a solution.
I discovered Spaces exists in the Utilities folder in Applications.
When I opened the application from here it gave me the 3 spaces I had assigned, vertically displayed, with the system preference window sitting, outside and fairly large, hovering, partially infront of it all the other screens. After several tries of grabbing and disappearing it finally let me drag and drop the window into one of the screen.
I am really relieved now!!

Problem with internet. When i open System preferences, Network, message drops down: 'your network settings have been changed by another application'. I click OK, but it drops a message again and again, preventing me to do anything about the setting.

Problem with internet. When i open System preferences, Network, message drops down: 'your network settings have been changed by another application'. I click OK, but it dropps the message again and again, preventing me to do anything about the setting.

A Fix for "Your network preferences have been changed by another application" Error
In the Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ folder delete the following:
com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist
com.apple.nat.plist
You will have to re-configure all your network settings since deleting.
(10.4.10)
Use Software Update to update your OS to last version of Tiger. Install all the other updates that goes along w/it.

System preferences' "expose&spaces" problem

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