Help with serious OsX problem

kelib

I know I shouldn't have done this but I was trying to install themes in 10.2 and it has damaged the Os. When I start up the Mac everything looks just fine but ca. 1 ot 2 seconds after the login screen appears it disappears again and I'm left with an empty blue screen. It's like a blue leyer over the logon screen. I can move the mouse cursor but that's it.



What's worse, I have no backup When will I ever learn. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" /> And even worse than that, I only have a 10.1 install CD I can logon to Os9 and I was hoping there might be a file in the OsX system I could remove to solve the problem. Anyone here experienced anything similar?

altivec_2.0

The only way I would go is just reinstall the OS. First log into OS 9 and backup all important information.

overhope

Themes in OS X replace and modify chunks of the OS itself: there's no framework for themes like Appearances under 9, so anything that goes wrong will frag the system and will require reinstallation.



The moral of the story being: back up before you play. Better still, install a testbed system into another drive or partition.



Still, as long as you can get into 9 you can retrieve your documents.

ghost_user_name

It looks like someone missed the thousand posts I've made warning people about the danger of "themes". <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



Overhope and Altivec_2.0 are right. You're going to have to reinstall the system.



Here are two posts I wrote from <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001552"; target="_blank">a recent thread</a>:

[quote]USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!





I cannot emphasize that enough. Installing themes is a VERY dangerous game because they permanently delete and overwrite crucial pieces of the system.<hr></blockquote>

[quote]THERE IS NO SANCTIONED METHOD FOR DEVELOPING AND APPLYING THEMES IN MAC OS X.





I know this for a fact. I've made themes myself. I've followed the history and development of the various theming applications for Mac OS X since the Public Beta. In Classic Mac OS, there was actually a plug-in architecture setup via the Appearance Manager to apply themes to the system. This was developed for Copland, then Mac OS 8, but not included until Mac OS 8.5. There is *not* any similar system for Mac OS X. All of the theme "installer" programs like Duality and MetamorphX do exactly what I described above: they systematically DELETE key files in from the Carbon HIToolbox framework (and others too, especially with 10.2) and replace them with hacked files. If anything is wrong with the hacked files or if it something goes wrong during the replacement procedure, your Mac can rendered completely unusable with exception of the command-line in single-user mode.





*shrug* Am I making any headway here? What do I have do say to get people to understand that there is *no* built-in support for themes on Mac OS X and that installing themes can be very dangerous if you don't know exactly what is being changed and how to fix it?<hr></blockquote>



A question:

How is it that you have 10.2 but only a 10.1 install CD? <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />



[ 09-28-2002: Message edited by: Brad ]</p>

qazii

Wouldn't it be possible to retore the theme resource files from the OS X CD, while in OS 9?

kelib

[quote]Originally posted by Brad:

<strong>It looks like someone missed the thousand posts I've made warning people about the danger of "themes". <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



Overhope and Altivec_2.0 are right. You're going to have to reinstall the system.



Here are two posts I wrote from <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001552"; target="_blank">a recent thread</a>:





A question:

How is it that you have 10.2 but only a 10.1 install CD? <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />



[ 09-28-2002: Message edited by: Brad ]</strong><hr></blockquote> Of course when using such SW you do so upon your own risk. That's obvious, especially when we're talking software still in Beta stage. But shouldn't it be possible, at least in theory to replace the hacked files manually from the Os9 partition? The reason I only have Os 10.1 install CD is that I bought a 3 month old 'Demo' machine with OS 10.2 pre-installed but only OS 10.1 on CD. I have ordered 10.2 though and should get it by snail mail on Tuesday. The reason I took this chance is that I just can't stand Aqua. But I also know (too well) that I only have me self to blame here



[ 09-29-2002: Message edited by: kelib ]</p>

ghost_user_name

[quote]Originally posted by kelib:

<strong>Of course when using such SW you do so upon your own risk. That's obvious, especially when we're talking software still in Beta stage. But shouldn't it be possible, at least in theory to replace the hacked files manually from the Os) partition?</strong><hr></blockquote>

You still don't get it. Whether they're labeled as "beta" or not, these themes can NOT be expected to work flawlessly on all systems. These things shouldn't even be classified in the same group as "software" but rather as "permanent system hacks". They are extremely delicate and fragile. Even the slightest differences in frameworks could let the theme work fine on one computer but grind the system to a halt on another, as it did in your case.



Yes, it is certainly possible to replace the hacked files, but you need the original untouched files backed up somewhere else. Furthermore, you'd have to disect the theme package you originally installed to figure out exactly what files that were changed.



Sorry, man, but there's really not much else you can do short of a reinstall.