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Ever since I "upgraded" from the very stable 10.6.8 to the questionable (on my system) 10.8.5 DP has acted strange and more crashy than I've seen it for many years. I've reinstalled DP twice now in the last few months. One thing strange is I've got DP set to 'None' on startup, and it will obey for a while and then randomly on startup it will open the last file I was working on instead of none. This behavior comes and goes in waves. I also randomly get "This is the first time opening this application..." from the Finder even when it isn't. That happens with other apps too and also comes in waves and then goes away for a while. I mention that in case it might be related. Any ideas on why DP is randomly changing preferences?

I would upgrade to DP 8 but I read about as many other problems there and maybe more than I'm already having. I wish I'd just stayed on 10.6.8 but several issues kind of forced me into "upgrading".

Yea, something's not right and it probably isn't DP if other applications are doing this, too. I deal with a lot of Macs and this is weird.

Do you always log in as Administrator? If not, why?

Have you checked your Security settings? These changed in OS 10.8 and are far more restrictive unless you change a few in System Preferences. There are many articles on this.

When you reinstalled DP 7.24, did you run the uninstaller first? Did you do it from a 7.24 CD or an earlier version and updater? I don't think this is the problem, however.

If you close an application with an open file, it will often reopen the old file unless you have all applications set to None. This improved in Mavericks but sometimes glitch. If you ever force-quit, it will try to reopen the file.

I don't know how often you reboot but if you don't, some applications can corrupt others and cause strange behavior. I will sometimes go days without rebooting and this occasionally bites me - always when I'm in a hurry, of course. I intend to upgrade to an SSD so that I get back into the habit of rebooting. Right now, I'm often too impatient as I like to get to work as soon as I sit down.

If the system is having general problems remembering states, is there a battery problem?

bayswater wrote:If the system is having general problems remembering states, is there a battery problem?

We were posting at the same time

Would that affect DP prefs though? Not saying it couldn't but it doesn't seem like it would. I changed a battery recently on an older machine and it kept losing clock time. Not sure what the other symptoms would be of the early stages of battery failure. This computer is old enough that it is a possibility...

mikehalloran wrote:Yea, something's not right and it probably isn't DP if other applications are doing this, too. I deal with a lot of Macs and this is weird.

Do you always log in as Administrator? If not, why?

Yes.

mikehalloran wrote:Have you checked your Security settings? These changed in OS 10.8 and are far more restrictive unless you change a few in System Preferences. There are many articles on this.

That might be a factor, I'll read up on that.

mikehalloran wrote:When you reinstalled DP 7.24, did you run the uninstaller first? Did you do it from a 7.24 CD or an earlier version and updater? I don't think this is the problem, however.

The first time I did not uninstall, the last time I did.

mikehalloran wrote:If you close an application with an open file, it will often reopen the old file unless you have all applications set to None. This improved in Mavericks but sometimes glitch. If you ever force-quit, it will try to reopen the file.

That might explain some instances, but probably not all. I'll pay attention to that from now on though.

mikehalloran wrote:I don't know how often you reboot but if you don't, some applications can corrupt others and cause strange behavior. I will sometimes go days without rebooting and this occasionally bites me - always when I'm in a hurry, of course. I intend to upgrade to an SSD so that I get back into the habit of rebooting. Right now, I'm often too impatient as I like to get to work as soon as I sit down.

I start up in the morning and shut down later in the day. Don't usually reboot in between unless things have really gone haywire or acting extra crazy.

Thanks for your reply, Mike, much appreciated!

philbrown wrote:Would that affect DP prefs though?

I don't know. I suppose there could be interactions between states that are remembered in hardware and some aspects of preferences. E.g. if the system time is wrong and predates the installation of an app, could the app conclude that it has never been run before? My UAD-1 sometimes asks me what's up if it sees that it hasn't been used for a while. Some apps will not run if the system time is backdated to a point prior to the date the licence was issued. Just suggesting that if the battery is bad, it could be difficult to figure out the cause of other problems.

bayswater wrote:

philbrown wrote:Would that affect DP prefs though?

I don't know. I suppose there could be interactions between states that are remembered in hardware and some aspects of preferences. E.g. if the system time is wrong and predates the installation of an app, could the app conclude that it has never been run before? My UAD-1 sometimes asks me what's up if it sees that it hasn't been used for a while. Some apps will not run if the system time is backdated to a point prior to the date the licence was issued. Just suggesting that if the battery is bad, it could be difficult to figure out the cause of other problems.

Thanks, Bays - I've seen weirder stuff than that over the years so anything's possible. I just googled battery failure symptoms and all I could get was MacBook. The only symptom mentioned for Mac Pro's was the clock resetting. Maybe others will chime in on this. I'm guessing I would probably have to pop the battery out to check it and not sure what all that would do. Might as well replace it at that point I suppose. I haven't 'zapped the PRAM' in ages- do people still do that? I believe Parliament Funkadelic had a song called Zap the PRAM IIRC.

Phil, it gets confusing. IIRC, Intel Macs have NVRAM, not PRAM. Then there's PMUs for PowerPC and SMCs for Intel, and so on. The latter are supposedly to do with power management, but this appears as a symptom calling for SMC reset: "Applications may not function correctly or may stop responding after being opened." That could cover just about anything.

I say zap 'em all.

I should have mentioned that first.

A weak battery is worse than no battery - really. I have often diagnosed a bad battery by removing it and seeing if things improve. Some Macs won't boot with a weak battery but will with none. others have the random restart issues. Apps can certainly get weird... many other symptoms.

The general rule of thumb is that if you replace every three years, you normally don't have problems. The batteries are rated 3.6V on the tower Macs. Any unit reading less than 3.0V is usually causing problems.

There are other possible physical causes including bad RAM and clogged heat sinks but check that battery.

This is a classic case of something I wouldn't have thought of myself, and why I posted. I think I'll just replace the battery with a fresh one, since I'd like to keep this computer running for a couple of more years.

Can anyone recommend a good reliable RAM test they have used? I don't mind paying for it if it's not too expensive.

Well I have a couple of CR2032 batteries sitting here, but of course Apple specs the BR2032 which I'll have to special order. These CR2032's would probably work, but I'm hesitant to substitute them since the specs are slightly different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CR2032_battery

This is the battery for all towers from the Performa and a few early Mac Pros. It also works with old iMacs and many others.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAA36VPRAM/

Most Mac Pros, all Minis and newer iMacs use the C2032. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to get to it and replace without breaking the holder - and other videos on how to replace the holder.

Unless you were sending your Mac to outer space or a scientific expedition where the temperature extremes matter, I see no reason to use a BR2032. It has a lower output and doesn't last as long. I notice that OWC only offers the CR2032.

According to the company who makes my diabetes meter, not all brands are the same. Many of the generics don't last as long. They recommend the Eveready (Energizer) and Duracell.

mikehalloran wrote:
Unless you were sending your Mac to outer space or a scientific expedition where the temperature extremes matter, I see no reason to use a BR2032. It has a lower output and doesn't last as long.

According to the company who makes my diabetes meter, not all brands are the same. Many of the generics don't last as long. They recommend the Eveready and Duracell.

Thanks Mike! I felt the same but just needed a little hand-holding. I have some Rayovac CR2032's sitting right here I can use. I appreciate your experience having maintained so many Macs.

philbrown wrote:

mikehalloran wrote:
Unless you were sending your Mac to outer space or a scientific expedition where the temperature extremes matter, I see no reason to use a BR2032. It has a lower output and doesn't last as long.

According to the company who makes my diabetes meter, not all brands are the same. Many of the generics don't last as long. They recommend the Eveready and Duracell.

Thanks Mike! I felt the same but just needed a little hand-holding. I have some Rayovac CR2032's sitting right here I can use. I appreciate your experience having maintained so many Macs.

I guess this is old news now, but I just wanted to say I agree with Mike. If a battery fits, has similar output voltage, and is more popular, i.e. easier to find and more likely in stock, I don't hesitate to use it where I know there are no special requirements, e.g., the space station.

Shooshie

You know those threads where you never hear back?
Well this isn't one of those maybe.
The new battery seems to have solved it.
My Open, opens up blank now, like I like.