System Preferences hangs (spinning circle) when removing/adding panes

Anytime I attempt to remove, update or add a pane in System Preferences I get the multi-color spinning circle. This has been happening ever since I decided to start removing some of the older panes that I no longer used. I was able to remove a couple, then this issue started. Unfortunately, I do not recall the items I removed. (this occurs in both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions)
Any ideas, this is driving me nuts?

The problem appears to have been fixed. Trying to add a Google Account now displays this (different) pop-up dialog:
Since I originally had this problem, I have installed recent updates including the OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Supplemental Update, Keynote 6.5.3, Pages 5.5.3, Numbers 3.5.3, and Xcode 6.3.1. Google accounts appear to work fine in all applications I tested now.

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System Preferences Hangs After a Successful Sync to .Mac

Okay, I think this is going to be a tough one to track down, but I'm hoping you guys can help.
Problem: When I manually sync my data to .Mac using the .Mac area of System Preferences, System Preferences hangs right after the sync process completes.
If I manually start the sync in System Preferences and then quit System Preferences while the sync is in progress, the sync completes with no ill effects (i.e., because System Preferences is no longer running, it can't hang when the .Mac sync completes).
Things I've done to address the problem:
(1) Trashed com.apple.PreferenceSync.plist (restart system and try recreating the problem ... no change).
(2) Trashed the contents of ~/Library/FileSync/ (restart system and try recreating the problem ... no change).
(3) Unregister my computer from .Mac, delete old sync data, and re-register my computer with .Mac (as I said, the .Mac sync completes, so this was just a shot in the dark ... restart system and try recreating the problem ... no change).
The system.log records the following when System Preferences hangs:
Jun 7 00:07:31 Joel-McIntoshs-Computer System Preferences[401]: exception while performing selector syncPlanWithIdentifier: on server: NSPortTimeoutException connection timeout: did not receive reply
Jun 7 00:07:31 Joel-McIntoshs-Computer SystemUIServer[107]: exception while performing selector syncPlanWithIdentifier: on server: NSPortTimeoutException connection timeout: did not receive reply
Jun 7 00:07:31 Joel-McIntoshs-Computer System Preferences[401]: * -[NSConditionLock lockBeforeDate:]: deadlock (<NSConditionLock: 0x199997a0> '(null)')
Jun 7 00:07:31 Joel-McIntoshs-Computer System Preferences[401]: * Break on _NSLockError() to debug.

Thanks for the help. I think I've tracked down the problem.
I created a test user and the sync and system preferences worked fine.
I started trouble shooting by going back to the main account, and testing item by item various third-party "items" that were present in the main account, but that were absent in the test user account. I removed most third party "stuff" and started adding it back in one at a time and testing sync with each addition.
I finally recreated the System Preferences hang after I installed TextExpander -AND- had .Mac sync checked in the TextExpander preferences (it didn't hang if that box was not checked in TextExpander). Unchecked, no hang ... checked hang.
I've contacted the developer for assistance.

System Preferences hangs at "Loading Print & Fax..."

Hi,
I tried to load a Canon printer driver for the ir1023. After the install it required a restart. The Mac Pro never fully turned off, so I was stuck having to do a manual shut down with the power button. I am sure this messed everything up.
When I logged back on System Preferences hangs at "Loading Print & Fax..." when I click the icon. So I deleted the printing preferences, from my preferences folder and still nothing.
I ran the canon installer and that ran successfully, but did not remedy the problem. No Mac programs will print, Photoshop will not launch and Text Edit won't quit.
I ran Disk permissions from the Leopard disk, still no improvement.
Any ideas on how to fix my printing woes without a reinstall?
And I was having some hardware issues with my Time Machine drive - so I had no backup to fall back on.
Thanks!

I would run the UFR2 driver installer again, but when it shows Easy Install at the Installation Type pane, change the menu to Uninstall. This should remove all the UFR2 files, most of which are copied to ./Library/Printers/Canon/UFR2.
With the Canon files removed, try to open the Print & Fax pane again. If it still fails to load, you could try opening the CUPS web page (http://127.0.0.1:631). From here you can select the printer list and job list and possibly remove any existing printers or jobs that are in the system. Ideally we would like to reset the printing system, but I don't think we can do this from the web page or from Terminal - we need the GUI of Print & Fax.
Will do some more reading and get back to you....
PaHu

Imac gets stuck on spinning circle when shutting down

I have had my mac for only 1 year and still getting use to the troubleshooting. My Imac keeps getting stucking on spinning circle when I shut down or reboot. I have unplugged all my external hard drives and printer. Nothing seemed to work. Can someone point me in the right direction.
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53)
4gb Ram
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5

You might want to make sure that there are no open applications when you shut down, one of them may be hanging your Mac trying to shut down. Another thing to look for is to make sure that there are no print jobs that are not complete. Open the print and scan preference pane, double click your printer and see if any things hanging there.

Hi! I have a WD my book external hard drive plugged into my imac and I want to share it over my network with my apple tv. I went into system preferences sharing, checked "file sharing" and added my external hard drive to the shared folder. So now it is

Hi!
I have a WD my book external hard drive plugged into my imac and I want to share it over my network with my apple tv. I went into system preferences > sharing, checked "file sharing" and added my external hard drive to the shared folder. So now it is listed in "shared folders" but under "users" everything is grayed out (it says "read and write" for "everyone" - but "read and write" is grayed out, and it doesn't let me add or subtract users). Now I can access all of the folders I shared from my imac except for the externalhard drive. What's going on?

Hi RRFS!,thanks for help.I forgot to tell that hard drive has 2 partitions 1:format :Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and that works properly,2:format:MS-DOS (FAT32) and when i "get info" for both :first has shering & permitions:You can read and write - with name and privilege, second has shaing & prermissions:You can read and write- without name and privilege

HT1338 My system preference hang after i click desktop and screen saver app.

When ever i try to change my wall paper or click on my desktop and screen saver app the system preference hang..
Any one know how to fix that beside format the whole system?
Thanks in Adv.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Try to delete the Desktop settings file. First, open Finder, select Go menu > Go to Folder, and type ~/Library/Preferences. Then, delete "com.apple.desktop.plist" and "com.apple.systempreferences.plist", and restart. Finally, you should be able to go to Desktop and Screen Saver on System Preferences

System Preferences Hanging

I upgraded my First Gen Macbook to Snow Leopard when it came out. Just recently however, I have started having a problem with system preferences. The first time I open system preferences, it hangs, stalls, and crashes. Once I force quit it, I can launch it normally. So recap:
Launch System Preferences: Hang, Force Quit
Re-Launch System Preferences: Open immediately
A minor annoyance but still an annoyance

You are not alone friend, I have a 1st gen Macbook Pro, fresh install of Snow Leopard, new user account, NO migration, all updated, and all voodoo done as well (repair permissions, chkdsk, blah blah blah). I have to launch System Preference, watch it hang, force quit, and relaunch successfully. Works that way EVERY time. If I wait too long, I can't open it. Now I open it and just leave it open all day. If I didn't change so many settings so often, I wouldn't care. This entire experience of upgrading to Snow Leopard has sucked. Shame on you Apple.

System preferences hangs

installed ML, but system preferences hangs so can't change any preferences.It opens the icon, but the window never appears.
I have re-installed - but same happens
moreover, I can't get it to restart without forcing a quit by turning on/off button (it hangs on the blank 'light grey' screen)
I have checked repair permissions, no problem there.
any ideas?
imac 2.4GHz intel core 2 duo, 3 GB sdram

On my MacPro:
My problem began with a nearly non-functioning Mail program after upgrade to OS M Lion, which is detailed in my post a few days ago. After trying everything I could to resolve it unsuccessfully, (rebuild directory structure, fix permissions, trash preferences for iCloud apps, zap PRAM, and several other efforts, including a reinstall of M Lion from recovery drive) I contacted Apple Support and ended up on the phone with a rep. We set-up remote access so he could see the Mail hang-up everytime I attempted to fill in the outgoing email address field in a new message window (spinning ball) - it took up to 30 sec for each letter I typed to appear and overall about 2-3 minutes to completely populate the field with the address. All other Mail functions were working better, but seriously sluggish. We tried disabling each email account, one by one to see if another account was causing the problem (my primary account is a .me address). No problem with other accounts. Then the unexpected happened. He asked me to open Safari and log into iCloud so we could see if Mail was working via the web. Upon login, the icons for all the iCloud applications appeared with completely corrupted text labels under each icon... each was a mix of letters and symbols stacked on top of each other. It appeared that my entire iCloud account might be corrupted. However, testing the same login via Firefox worked just fine, so the issue was narrowing to iCloud and interaction between the default apps between this computer and iCloud via Safari. We then attempted to open Contacts from Launch Pad on HD - It opened, but none of my contacts were there. Further indication of iCloud account corruption. Since I am able to access and use all iCloud features and apps on my MacBook Pro, an early assumption is that the OS upgrade to Mountain Lion on my MacPro may have been severely corrupted. Before going so far as to do a clean install of M Lion, we installed a Data Capture program and I ran through the attempts to set-up and send a new email while it captured all system activitiy in that process. This data and the screen captures obtained during this session have now been sent up to Apple OS engineers to dig into and figure out why, and how a corruption of the ML install could have occured. I have agreed not to do a 'clean install' of the OS until the engineers get back to me as they may need to run more remote diagnostics on this computer to narrow it down to the actual cause.... this, so that a fix can be implemented before countless other computers are effected. I am scheduled to hear back form them today or on Monday and I will post the results here. They seem quite busy with bug fixing right now. The toys and features of Lion and M Lion are very cool, but I am seriously beginning to miss the speed and reliability of Leapord/Snow Leopard.... even Tiger - I fired up my old G5 tower with Leopard ... it is amazing just how fast and solid it is compared to these new OS builds that feel and look more like virtual machines than a real Mac OS.   I hope all these diagnostics and interaction with senior engineers provide some solid solutions soon.
MACHINE WITH PROBLEM OS UPGRADE:
Model Name:          Mac Pro
Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          2.8 GHz
Number of Processors:          2
Total Number of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per Processor):          12 MB
Memory:          12 GB
Bus Speed:          1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system):          1.25f4

Grey Screen and Spinning Circle When Trying to open a PDF from a website

I tried to view a pdf from a website and a little window popped up. At the time i thought it was to save the pdf but i guess it was in fact asking me to find the adobe acrobat program. I quit out of it and now keep getting the grey screen and spinning circle when i try to download the pdf. How do I get it so i can open pdfs if find on websites? thanks!

themercenary12 wrote:
Found another topic and was helpful
*Hi mercenary, Welcome (Back)* to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
It would be nice if you could explain or link to the helpful topic.
Good Luck, JP

System Preferences hangs with Mountain Lion

Various parts of system preferences hang under Mountain Lion. Prior to upgrade there was no problem. Any ideas?

I am still having this problem as well. Multiple panes will fail to launch. A reinstallation of ML failed to fix this. I even did a fresh reinstall, manually copying over my Documents, Music, Pictures, and other essential files to a backup drive beforehand. Almost all System Preferences fail to launch. A list of those that fail:
Desktop & Screensaver
Security & Privacy
Notifications
iCloud
Mail, Contacts, & Calendars
Date & Time
Software Update (The only one that seems to extend beyond the preference pane. Software update will not launch, even though I know there are iPhoto and iTunes updates to be downlaoded.)
Dictation & Speech
Time Machine (I really, really, really, really, really want this one to work!)
Startup Disk
Third-party:
Glimmer Blocker (I have let the developer know. There is an update, it does not seem to be working at this time.)

TS3742 I have an iMac 24" system. I just recently installed MAC OS X 10.7.4 (Lion) on my system. Since doing so, my system consistently hangs. Particularly when using iMovie and iPhoto.

I have an iMac 24" system. I just recently installed MAC OS X 10.7.4 (Lion) on my system. Since doing so, my system consistently hangs. Particularly when using iMovie and iPhoto. I have to power off my system to get it running again. Any suggestions on what I can do to address this situation.

I would first reset the SMC:
Shut down and unplug the Mac.
Keep the Mac unplugged for at least fifteen seconds.
Plug the Mac back in and do not turn it back on for at least five seconds.
Press the power button to turn the Mac back on.
Then I would reset the PRAM by rebooting the iMac while simultaneously holding the Command-Option-P-R keys until the machine restarts a second time.
Let us know if these procedures don't solve the problems.
Hope this helps

System Preferences hangs on adding Google account

I am running OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 – the problem I am about to describe started to occur just after installing the latest software update – on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014). All of my applications are up to date; Mail is version 8.2 and System Preferences is version 14.0 if that can matter.
After installing the latest Yosemite update and restarting, I started to see a notification asking me to enter my Google account password in System Preferences. I clicked yes, and was brought to Internet Accounts and presented with a pop-up dialog looking like this:
The spinning animation never stopped – I waited at least five minutes. I also included Mail, in which this pop-up also appears when trying to configure certain email preferences.
This was fine, although the notification, which continued to reappear occasionally, was somewhat annoying. However, then I decided to remove my Google account from Internet Accounts and re-add it. I then realized, having removed the account, that I am shown the same non-functional pop-up dialog when I try to add a Google account. (Adding iCloud accounts appears to work fine.) Consequently, I cannot access any Google services on my Mac anymore. (Everything works fine when using mail.google.com, calendar.google.com, etc.)
As I mentioned previously, the dialog also appears when selecting Add Account in Mail.
Unfortunately, I had no backup within the last few minutes to which I could revert in order to restore my Google account.
I assume that the problem is caused by some change in Apple's protocol for interfacing with email in the last Yosemite update, as everything works exactly as expected on my second Macbook Pro, which is running all of the same software except that I have not installed the latest software update. (To be precise, this includes iTunes 12.1.2, OS X Update 10.10.3, and OS X Yosemite Recovery Update 1.0.)
What can I do?

The problem appears to have been fixed. Trying to add a Google Account now displays this (different) pop-up dialog:
Since I originally had this problem, I have installed recent updates including the OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Supplemental Update, Keynote 6.5.3, Pages 5.5.3, Numbers 3.5.3, and Xcode 6.3.1. Google accounts appear to work fine in all applications I tested now.

HT2452 System Preferences app. window frozen when opened and round coloured circle turns without stop.

The system preferences app. started to be with troubles when opened,its remain frozen in a window ,e.g. Desktop/Screensaver or any other,without to be able to use another of application items.
At the time of the trouble, the mouse pointer becomes a disc coloured which turns without to stop.
I must log out from application by forced log out from de dock icon.
What´s going on ????????
Thanks in advance for your comments ,in oredr to solve the a.m. issue.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins and log in as Guest. For instructions, launch the System Preferences application, select Help from the menu bar, and enter “Set up a guest account” (without the quotes) in the search box.
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem(s)?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in Mac OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Note: If FileVault is enabled under Mac OS X 10.7 or later, you can’t boot in safe mode.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

System preferences hangs when attempting VPN

Hello folks,
I have a set of VPNs I regularly use, and these were all happily configured and running on my iMac running OSX 10.6.8 until sometime recently where something went wrong. Now, whenever I select a VPN on the Network page and click Connect, the "Connecting..." words appear under the VPN in question, and the system preference window freezes up. After a few minutes, I get an error message stating that the remote device has stopped responding. The system preferences window never recovers - on mousover I get the progress disk thing, and the "Connecting..." never goes away.
I do know the VPN servers are functioning - I use the same servers with my iPad with no issues. Any thoughts?

Unless you are trying to sync a non-Apple mobile phone via a USB or Bluetooth connection, this has nothing to do with iSync.
You probably need to reset SyncServices as described here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1627
The *MobileMe Sync* forums are here: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=957

System Preferences Hang

I've just recently been struggling to print on my HP Laserjet 1020 and a Canon all in one and uninstalled both of the printers and rebooted my laptop. Now the System Preferences screen hangs when I click on the Print/Fax option. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Maybe try to go to your user/library/preferences folder and remove com.apple.systempreferences.plist and possibly another one relating to the print preferences (not sure which), and restarting?

System Preferences hangs (spinning circle) when removing/adding panes

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