My OS 9 "Documents" folder, the one at the root level of the hard drive with the fancy icon no longer works. Whatever is inside it longer is linked to the Application it should be. For instance iTunes, Outlook, Acrobat etc.
How do I get the folder back to being an OS 9 Documents folder and not just a generic folder?
And a weird thing is if I boot the computer with a startup cd, the folder on the internal drive that I am writing about is correct. It has the correct icon etc.
Help!
Sounds like a job for Diskwarrior.
I ran Disk Warrior last night. I didn't fix it.
Boot the Mac and when the extensions are 'bout done loading hold the CMD + option keys. That'll force the OS to rebuild the Desktop Database, which is used to connect things like doc types and app types.
Alternatively, you can use one of the free versions (or the not-free versions I guess) of TechTool to do the same thing.
All this is assuming you're actually booting into OS 9, not X . . .
dan k
There's a fantastic extension called Total Desktop Rebuild (available in the MIT hyperarchive and elsewhere) which will delete the desktop database and the Mac will then rebuild it from scratch. It's sorted out icon/association problems for me that the usual rebuild hasn't fixed.
I did the desktop rebuild key sequence last night. Didn't work. I also let DiskWarrior do its thing. It didn't work either. And yes I am booting into 9.
Why would booting from my OS 9 CD make the offending Documents folder on my internal drive show as normal? It has the correct icon.
But when go back to booting from the internal drive the icon is generic again?
That does sound like a desktop database "bundle bit" problem. Try the program I suggested to erase and rebuild the DD from scratch.
The traditional desktop rebuild re-writes the original, and sometimes a problem will remain through the rebuild.
Oh. Hmmm. OK. I didn't actually pay close enough attention first time to grok that issue.
Maybe the System file or Finder is fubared. Replace with a fresh copy?
Is the only issue that the Docs folder has a generic icon? I mean, are there any actual functional problems, or is it just a cosmetic issue?
dan k
Did a Google search of Total Desktop Rebuild and this other program turned up:
VersionTracker: Trash Desktop
Found "Total Desktop Rebuild" here:
OS 9 Freeware
I reinstalled OS 9 last night. It didn't help either. I didn't do a clean install because of all the program crap in the system folder. There is a ton of after market stuff.
It is not cosmetic, it is very functional. If your documents folder is not working than Outlook Express doesn,t work, Office 2001, iTunes and others. Any program that has folders and files in the Documents folder.
Right now all those programs open up like the first time. Empty!
What machine are you using, and are you up to 9.2.2? Perhaps trashing the Finder Preferences file will do something? I think I've had your problem in the past, but probably Diskwarrior fixed it. I run Diskwarrior from a complete OS 9 Fixit system I made and burned to CD. It includes Diskwarrior, Techtool 3, and Norton Utilities. One thing you could try is get a clean new copy of the folder and move your documents files to it and then replace the old folder with the new one, and then run Diskwarrior.
Try this test - drag the Preferences folder out of the System Folder (to the desktop's a good place) and restart. What's it doing now?
dan k
It is a G4 Quicksilver and I running OS 9.2. Everytime I check Software Update it says "no updates are necessary"
I already tried trashing the finder prefs. Didn't work
There is no ways to get a clean copy of the "Documents" folder. When you try to copy it to a zip or cd it just copies as a generic folder.
As an experiment I tried "Trash•Desktop" on my other mac. It trashed the desktop files but now most of my icons are generic. Even the icons in the Apple menu. Now I am leary about using it on the G4 Quicksilver (its a clients mac).
Feeling like I'm repeating myself here, but have you tried deleting the desktop DB files yet?
I tried the common Apple way. Starting up with command option keys down. It didn't help.
I am afraid to try Trash•Desktop, since it wacked out all my icons on my personal imac.
Don't know what resources you have, but I'd probably copy the entire harddrive over to another harddrive for backup, and then do a complete system reinstall, and if that didn't work, I'd try Norton Utilities (which sometimes does more harm than good, but it usually catches icon problems).