24 May 2010, 18:37
I am unable to invoke FinderPop no matter where or what on my MacBook running 10.6.3. Anyone have a suggestion please? Would really like to get this working.
24 May 2010, 20:43
It would help if you gave more details.
- Did you install the latest version 2.3.0?
- Does FinderPop now show up in System Preferences?
- Did you logout-login or restart your Mac after installation of FinderPop?
- Is FinderPop "On" as shown in the Pref panel in System Preferences?
- Exactly what do you mean with "unable to invoke FinderPop", what did you try that does not work?
24 May 2010, 22:16
FinderPop will also print some info to the Console every time it starts up, in Utilities->Console.app you should see a line saying something like:
FinderPop-23000-i386, built on blah... INIT
24 May 2010, 23:18
Sorry for being unclear. Strangely enough, I just re-installed for the third time, while the last time forgetting to close System Preferences ( I know- NOT RECOMMENDED! ) and now everything works. Thanks for your support and a wonderful app.
25 May 2010, 09:41
Hmm, AFAIK System Preferences needs to be quit/closed only if you're installing a new version of FinderPop.
(System Preferences caches the old version of FinderPop if you had it open, but what's running is the new version, which results in mondo confusion...)
As you found, best results are gotten by double-clicking the FinderPop.prefPane file when System Preferences is not running.
Anyway, glad it all worked out in the end!
Edit: oh hang on, I've actually read your post this time instead of scanning it, apologies! That's bizarre. I wonder what the install issue could be - if anyone else suffers from this, could you please include the info that RonaldPR asked for? And have a look at Console.app too in case something odd is happening... You're not using FileVault, are you?
08 Jul 2010, 11:48
Hmm. weird. Also using 10.6.3, I find that FinderPop only works if the FinderPop preference pane window is currently active. Also, the "must be a control click" has no effect (ie, it works while the pane is active, regardless of that setting).
edit: hang on - make that, only if the system preferences window is open. Hm.. I'll try reinstalling...
Update: I restarted, scoured my hd for everything FinderPop related, deleted it all, restarted again, and reinstalled, and it seems to be working ok now.. except, the "must be a control click" for the "unused menubar area" option still makes no difference.
Great to have FinderPop back! The great thing about it is that you can open files with apps in the items folder by using the contextual menu on those items - really missed that!
08 Jul 2010, 12:55
Are you saying that clicking-in-unused-menubar-area doesn't work?
Have you tried turning off menu bar translucency? See this post.
Edit: sorry, saw your updates. I'll have a look at that must-be-control-click code soon, I must have broken it...
08 Jul 2010, 13:06
Odd thing is, if I do check the "must be a control click" option, it *won't* work with a control-click, but if i uncheck it, it will.
bizarro
oh and btw, are the non-custom menu icons supposed to be folder icons? (because they're packages, or something?)
08 Jul 2010, 13:13
hmm.. can't get dividers to work ... eg a folder named:
99)-***
update - ugh. sorry - works now!
08 Jul 2010, 13:46
I'm not intending to "flame" this thread - really! - it's just I love FinderPop - BUT ... (*drum roll*) ... I now find it's slowing the Finder up big time.... I was selecting apps in the Applications folder, to make aliases from them, to put in the FP items folder, and I noticed that it was taking ages to make the aliases, in fact, ages to just select the items in the Finder... suspecting FP, I turned it off, and, oh dear, yes, the speed lag disappeared. Ohw dear...
08 Jul 2010, 14:46
I can confirm that the result of selecting "Must be a control-click" is not as intended: When the option is checked, a normal (left) click does invoke the menu in the menu bar, a control-click (or right-click) does nothing.
I do not see any slowing in the Finder with FP active. Selecting a large number of items in Applications and creating aliases is executed instantaneously.
What do you mean with the "non-custom menu icons" ? In my FP menus, all icons show up the same as they do in the Finder.
MacOSX 10.6.4 and FP 2.3.0.1 beta (build 23001).
08 Jul 2010, 20:21
@System6: Do you have control-free popup turned on? Try turning it off to see if it makes a difference to your Finder selection speed.
Are you running any other system enhancers?
I must definitely have broken the "must be control-click" thing, sorry. Will fix this weekend hopefully (before the World Cup final!)
08 Jul 2010, 20:28
RonaldPR wrote:What do you mean with the "non-custom menu icons" ? In my FP menus, all icons show up the same as they do in the Finder..
What I mean is, if you uncheck the "Use Custom Items in FinderPop submenus" option, the applications in the menus appear as folder icons. I guessed that was because they're packages. I suppose I expected a generic application icon instead. But yes, if you select (check) that option, you get the icons as they show in the Finder.
FWIW I'm still getting the Finder lag (on selecting stuff in the Finder) with FP turned on. Selection of items is sometimes so slow as to cause the beachball cursor.
08 Jul 2010, 20:44
turly wrote:@System6: Do you have control-free popup turned on? Try turning it off to see if it makes a difference to your Finder selection speed. Are you running any other system enhancers?
Well, I tried disabling Butler, Jitouch, SmartScroll, but still get the lag.
It happens quite predictably - turning FP off stops the "Finder select lag" instantly, and turning it back on evokes the lag again right away. It's not a "little" lag but a big one, like I say often causing the ol' beach ball.
This is on a MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz running 10.6.3 on 4GB memory.
It's a bugger, because I love FP!
PS Netherlands or Spain?
09 Jul 2010, 07:20
Yes, but did you try disabling control-free-popup in the FinderPop prefPane? Dragging the delay slider all the way to the right disables it IIRC (I'm away from my Mac.) That's about the only FP thing I can think of which might introduce a lag...
Does (Applications -> Utilities -> Console.app) have anything to say when the Finder is lagging?
And as far as the World Cup Final goes, well, I mostly live in Barcelona, so I'll be shouting for Spain... A por ellos! But the Netherlands are a decent, well-organised team, will be hard to break down, and are more than capable of grabbing a goal or two on the break. I'm not expecting a classic...
09 Jul 2010, 08:29
turly wrote:Yes, but did you try disabling control-free-popup in the FinderPop prefPane? Dragging the delay slider all the way to the right disables it
I've always had that setting dragged all the way to the right, next to "Never".
No, I can't see anything peculiar in Console.
I guess I'll have to wait and see if anyone else gets this behaviour.
Ah, I'm hoping the Netherlands can get through !
09 Jul 2010, 09:11
Did you try this: Log out and then login with shift key pressed (that will prevent login items to load). Then enable FP in the prefs pane. If there is no slowing in the Finder now, the problem is a conflict with one of the processes that are launched at login.
Sunday, I will be watching the match here in my favorite pub in Amsterdam.
I do admire especially some of the Barça players. Never underestimate them. One opening in our defense at the wrong time....
What is your interest in the orange team?
19 Jul 2010, 07:24
RonaldPR wrote:Did you try this: Log out and then login with shift key pressed (that will prevent login items to load). Then enable FP in the prefs pane. If there is no slowing in the Finder now, the problem is a conflict with one of the processes that are launched at login.?
I tried that - the lag is still there, so I don't know what's going on.
19 Jul 2010, 10:04
You did not mention the lag in your first couple of posts in this thread. Was the lag noticeable from the beginning or did it start later?
19 Jul 2010, 10:23
RonaldPR wrote:You did not mention the lag in your first couple of posts in this thread. Was the lag noticeable from the beginning or did it start later?
Oh gawd I'm not sure - though I think I noticed it pretty much straight away.
I wish I could find out what's causing it, because I love FinderPop.
I thought it was maybe Jitouch, or SmartScroll, but it's there when they're disabled.
UPDATE - just found that it only affects items in the Applications folder! Ahaa!
I am sorry - I was always using that folder to test ... but maybe that's normal with FP? Still don't know why it does it, but since it doesn't affect other folders, it's not too much of a problem!Wa-hey - now I shall use it!
19 Jul 2010, 12:33
Still strange. As I noted in this earlier post, it does not happen with items in my Applications folder.
19 Jul 2010, 19:11
I use FP with over 150 apps in my Applications folder and I've not noticed any lagging.
Plus the lag should only happen once because FP should have the menu cached after the first time.
One thing: FP has a feature where you can cancel the building of a menu for a huge directory by scrubbing the mouse (ie moving it about a bit.)
At that point the menu will have whatever we'd built plus a final item saying "Menu Incomplete" or words to that effect. The menu will be marked as invalid so it will need to be rebuilt the next time. So if you're scrubbing the mouse while FP is building a very large menu...
So how many items are in your Applications folder? What happens if you open the Applications folder in the Finder and command-control-click somewhere in there to get the FinderPop contents popup? Is that also very slow?
14 Aug 2010, 19:29
I can't tell what's causing this behaviour with my system.
I have 192 items in my Applications folder. But that's not humungously huge is it?
I must confess I don't understand what you mean about "scrubbing the mouse" (the mind boggles). In any case I'm using the trackpad on my MacBook Pro. I just tried plugging a mouse in instead, but the same thing happens.
If I control-click on an app, FinderPop opens OK, and it doesn't take too long. A bit longer than it does to open something on the desktop, say, but not noticeably delayed. It's the initial selection of an app that takes the long time.
It's a mystery, but it's not a big problem. If I need to do a lot of selecting of apps in the apps folder, I'll just temporarily turn FP off.
14 Aug 2010, 21:04
"Scrubbing the mouse" means moving the mouse around quite a bit, as if you were using the mouse to scrub the surface of your desk.
Basically FP notices the movement while it's building its menus and assumes you want to stop building the menu (useful if you accidentally navigate your way via FP into a folder with 10,000 items.)
I am not sure that you answered my question:
What happens if you open the Applications folder in the Finder and command-control-click somewhere in there to get the FinderPop contents popup? Is that also very slow?
I should add 'make sure the window is in icon view so you have some blank space to command-control-click in'.
Command-Control-clicking in a Finder window invokes FinderPop's "Contents" menu, much the same code as would be exercised by a normal control-click somewhere, but with some important differences which might give us a clue...
16 Aug 2010, 00:23
Ah I see what scrubbing is - very handy! Sorry no I didn't answer your question properly. Anyway following your instructions I find that command-control clicking in the icon-viewed applications folder does evoke the contents list, though it takes two or three seconds to do it; in all other folders I tested, doing the same seems instantaneous.
16 Aug 2010, 14:40
So when you command-control click in the Applications folder, it takes 2-3 seconds? That sounds like it's a bit too much...
Does it still delay 2-3 seconds if you do it again immediately? The menu should be cached at that point... FP caches the menu it creates for each folder - next time FP is asked to display a menu for that folder, it looks at the modification date of the folder to see if it's unchanged and if so, uses the cached menu. Otherwise it throws away the cached menu and rebuilds the menu from scratch, which is what would consume the time.
Is anything causing the modification date of your Applications folder to change? Ie, if you select /Applications in the Finder, do a Get Info, note the modification time, then do it again a few seconds later...
11 Sep 2010, 14:39
Hi -sorry took so long to reply. There doesn't appear to be anythingweird about the modification date of the apps folder.
I did the "get info" and, after the lag, it said modification date "Today 14:20" (I just installed an application), waited a few seconds, did it again, it still said the same thing.
Everything about the apps folder is slow. If I click on the "get file path" icon in the finder window, it has the same lag before it shows the path ("Applications -> Macintosh HD -> [machine name]"). Just selecting the window incurs the lag, as does closing the "Get Info" window. Hovering the mouse over the "close window" button takes ages before the button turns into a cross, and it takes a few seconds before it closes.
Scrolling the window is normal speed.
It has 12.39GB of stuff in it.
No other folder on my machine shows this behaviour.
But, as long as FP is turned on, selecting anything in the folder causes a lag (few seconds - sounds small but is noticeable).
Stumped and bamboozled.
12 Sep 2010, 10:08
Stumped and bamboozled is right..!
System6 wrote:Everything about the apps folder is slow. If I click on the "get file path" icon in the finder window, it has the same lag before it shows the path ("Applications -> Macintosh HD -> [machine name]"). Just selecting the window incurs the lag, as does closing the "Get Info" window. Hovering the mouse over the "close window" button takes ages before the button turns into a cross, and it takes a few seconds before it closes.
And is this the case with FP turned off too? Have you checked your disks with Disk First Aid or whatever the modern equivalent is called?
14 Sep 2010, 14:00
no - it's only the case when finderpop is on
i'll check my disks with the disk utility tonight, as it takes so long
18 Oct 2010, 20:33
Nothing wrong with my disk apparently.
I notice that in my User/Library/Preferences folder there are two items:
com.finderpop.finderpop.plist
and
com.finderpop.finderpop-info
.. are both supposed to be there?
18 Oct 2010, 20:50
Probably. I have them both also.
23 Oct 2010, 16:42
Yes, both files should be there. I will eventually amalgamate them both into one file.
Sorry for the delay in replying, was in Lanzarote for a week. Scorchio!
BTW, thanks RonaldPR for taking care of the spammers!
11 Nov 2010, 17:18
Oh bu**er - I deleted one of them. ugh
11 Nov 2010, 17:51
No worries, just open the FinderPop prefPane and it'll be recreated.
24 Dec 2010, 19:06
Has *no-one* had this trouble? ... which I'm still getting? It's a real shame because I've been using FinderPop since forever, but this oddity means I've had to turn it off, and maybe have to use some other software like FolderGlance. I've tested it time and again now, and the situation remains the same: with FP switched on, any operation on the Applications folder is treacle-slow (selecting items, closing the window, etc., etc). Rarrgh!
24 Dec 2010, 21:42
Well, at least you appear to be the only one here in the forum with this problem.
What makes it unusual is that this slowing of Finder actions in or with the Applications folder occurs with FinderPop active but without FinderPop actually being used, and that the problem affects the Applications folder only. Really weird.
29 Dec 2010, 15:43
@System6: just to see if the number of apps has anything to do with your problem, I now have an Applications folder with 650 apps/games/utils/whatever. Apart from a 4-or-5-second delay the first time FinderPop makes the Apps menu, I notice no other issues at all. Selecting works fine. Getting Info works fine. Mind you, I've only run a couple of the 400+ new apps I added.
One thing does occur to me: FinderPop figures out what it is you've control-clicked on by using a feature of the Services menu -do you have any extra Services or Folder Actions installed that might account for this lagging? Automator scripts?
I'm not at my Mac right now, but I think Services are enabled/disabled in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts.
Make sure 'Folder Actions Setup' is enabled, though - FP uses that to figure out what's being clicked.
Oh, and Happy New Year to all!
29 Dec 2010, 23:43
Maybe I am wrong, but I have the feeling that in this thread there is a ongoing misunderstanding between System6 and Turly.
Turly's answers refer each time to possible lagging while using FinderPop, while invoking the FinderPop menu. But System6, as I read it, complains mainly about slowing of the Finder itself with regards to the Applications folder, about slowing while making Finder selections in the Applications folder, about delayed closing of the Applications folder window. He wrote that even after moving the mouse cursor over the red closing button of the Applications folder window it takes long before the red x appears. All this slowing apparently occurring only with the Applications folder and only when FinderPop is active.
31 Dec 2010, 12:20
I know System6's problem lies with the Finder slowing down, as opposed to FinderPop slowing down - I should have been clearer when I said "Selecting works fine, Getting Info works fine" etc - I meant that I was doing "normal" Finder operations on and in the Applications folder with FinderPop active and a huge number of apps in the Applications folder.
I still suspect that there is some Service that's enabled on System6's machine which FinderPop is (inadvertently) causing to be invoked each time he clicks in a Finder window... so, System6, it might be worth having a look to see what services are active...
And, of course, Happy New Year!
31 Dec 2010, 18:45
I’m having the problem with the Finder slowness.
I think it may be the number of files, not the Applications folder. My Applications folder is not a problem, but I don’t have any apps in my Applications folder, they are all in sub-folders. I do have a problem with my Components (Audio Units) folder, which has 442 items right now. I get a pause between 2 and 10 seconds when resizing the Finder window or selecting an item in the window. I see no CPU spikes or messages, but there is a disk read the entire time of the pause, with a disk write right when it clears up.
I tried turning all my services off in the keyboard system preferences, but it made no difference. I just figured out the new Snow Leopard services techniques. At first I deleted some older services from the Services folders and I thought it fixed the problem. It seemed to be working fine, but the next day it was back. I’m not sure if I restarted or did anything different during that time, I thought it was fixed so I wasn’t paying attention.
I was excited to find FinderPop, I used it a lot in OS9 and didn’t know it was still around.
bb
02 Jan 2011, 09:10
@bb3: intriguing!
One of my tests before releasing FP is to play with FP inside a folder with 2500 text files, and I've never noticed anything awry. Selecting one or more of the files is instantaneous, mind you I don't think I've tried resizing the folder's window since I first set it up a few years ago. I'll give that a lash next time I'm at my Mac, but I doubt that resizing would cause a slowdown where scrolling and selecting random files wouldn't.
If you're comfortable with terminal commands (and have your su password), this might be instructive.
Like I said, I'm not at my Mac until I get back to Barcelona on 13 Jan, but I remember the fs_usage command being very handy to see which processes are doing disk I/O... if you get a chance, could you play with fs_usage -w -f filesys and maybe iotop -C 1 15 just before doing a resize of your window-with-442-files? You can mail me the output at turly@finderpop.com or post it here if you wish...
07 Aug 2011, 22:12
System6 wrote:I'm not intending to "flame" this thread - really! - it's just I love FinderPop - BUT ... (*drum roll*) ... I now find it's slowing the Finder up big time.... I was selecting apps in the Applications folder, to make aliases from them, to put in the FP items folder, and I noticed that it was taking ages to make the aliases, in fact, ages to just select the items in the Finder... suspecting FP, I turned it off, and, oh dear, yes, the speed lag disappeared. Ohw dear...
I can confirm this issue with 10.6.7 as well (and with older OS versions). I've been dealing with this for a very long time and trying to troubleshoot this for ages. I finally stumbled upon this thread as it was pointed to from another thread on this issue.
My Applications folder has been slow as molasses on multiple computers for a long time. I finally just now turned off Finderpop and wham... Applications folder speed is back to normal. Ugh... I wish I'd known this a long, long time ago... wasted so much time troubleshooting. I'm just thankful I finally found the culprit.
This has been happening with multiple versions of Finderpop going back at least a year I think, but it's happening with the current version too.
Is there a workaround for this or is the only solution uninstalling Finderpop (which I really don't want to do)?
08 Aug 2011, 08:45
@Cowicide: Is control-free popup on in FinderPop? What other third-party prefPanes are installed? Have you enabled any extra services in the services menu?
Can you figure out exactly what is slow? Clicking from one app icon to another? Resizing the window? Both? Other Finder operations?
If you're comfortable with terminal commands, can you look at the message above your one?
Basically in a terminal window, run
sudo fs_usage -w -f filesys
and then switch to the Finder and try to perform the tasks that FinderPop slows down (window resizing, icon selection, whatever.)
Then mail me the results - turly@finderpop.com.
Sorry for all the questions, I'd love to know what's happening here, too. I now have a test folder with 666 apps (most of them duplicates admittedly) and have not noticed any issues at all, but for a small number of people FP is doing something bad to the Finder...
08 Aug 2011, 14:09
I got an email from another person who said that this Application folder slowdown may be a conflict between FinderPop and SmartScroll... does anyone else with this problem run SmartScroll?
17 Aug 2011, 07:19
turly wrote:I got an email from another person who said that this Application folder slowdown may be a conflict between FinderPop and SmartScroll... does anyone else with this problem run SmartScroll?
turly, I had the issue and I was running SmartScroll as well. All I've done is remove FinderPop and I'm still running SmartScroll now and the issue is gone so I don't know if it was a conflict or not, but hopefully the fact that I was running both might be helpful info for you.
17 Aug 2011, 10:09
@Cowicide - Cheers for the info, another data point. I'll download SmartScroll and see what's up when I get back to my Mac next month ("enjoying" the rather damp weather in Ireland at the moment.)
24 Aug 2011, 22:06
I forgot to mention that one time after installing Adobe CS 5.5 the issue went away temporarily. So whatever the Adobe installer did to the Applications folder, etc. seemed to resolve the issue, but it came back later I guess after a restart or something. It was a long while ago, but I remember being happy the issue was gone after the install, then dismayed when it came back again.
Can you figure out exactly what is slow? Clicking from one app icon to another? Resizing the window? Both? Other Finder operations?
The issue I was having was clicking one app icon to another was very sluggish. Painfully sluggish and this is with the fastest Macbook Pro Apple currently sells. I don't remember if the window resizing was slow for sure, but I don't think so. It did, however, take a long time for the window to close and would beachball. I'm pretty sure it was a bit slower to open as well. Once I turned off Finderpop it was all fast/normal again. There are about 450 icons/folders in there.
06 Dec 2011, 21:04
I thought you might be interested in this. I bought a new iMac - a 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, with 12GB RAM and 2GB Video RAM. Installed FinderPop. Everything seemed to be OK, until I started adding more things to the "FinderPop Items Folder".
The machine's quite fast, but I noticed a slowdown. Then I realised that the same thing was happening as before - the machine was slowing down considerably when I simply selected application icons in the applications folder. Since the machine is a lot faster than my old one, it took me longer to realise that this was happening.
Furthermore, after I had added a few things to the "FinderPop Items Folder" for some intuitive reason I took a look at the Activity Monitor app. I was somewhat stunned to see that my 12GB memory had shrunk to a mere 100MB of free. Only a few other apps were open.
With great reluctance I deleted FinderPop, and the apps folder now doesn't slow anything down, and my RAM isn't disappearing.
There's a bug in there somewhere, Turly, or I'll eat my hoojamaflip.
07 Dec 2011, 01:00
System6 wrote:the machine was slowing down considerably when I simply selected application icons in the applications folder ...With great reluctance I deleted FinderPop, and the apps folder now doesn't slow anything down, and my RAM isn't disappearing.
I had the same problem but now it's gone. I don't know why really except maybe updates to FinderPop or my system which is now up to 10.6.8.
Which OS version are you running and which FinderPop version?
07 Dec 2011, 09:25
@System6: Did you by any chance see what process was eating all that memory? Or did you run those fs_usage commands referred to earlier in the thread? And could you email me (turly@finderpop.com) a System Profile report for your system?
It's definitely some kind of interaction between FP and some things (Smart Scroll? Certain Services enabled on your machine?) that you have installed (and that few other people do, otherwise we'd be hearing about this much more often.)
My attempt to reproduce problems with SmartScroll was unsuccessful, I noticed no issues with my 666-application folder (or anything else.)
23 Jul 2013, 23:21
OK, just installed FP 2.4.9, thinking, that bug must have been squashed by now, but it's still there! I added 3 aliases to my FP items folder, and hey presto, it takes me a looooong time to select an app in the applications folder (i.e, to just select it by clicking it once) - about 3 or 4 seconds. Doesn't sound much, but it is. Disabled FP, and I can select them instantly again.
So it's disabled again
BTW - running OS X 10.8.4 on a MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 8GB memory (OK, it's an old-ish machine, but not that bad
)24 Jul 2013, 12:51
I have used subsequent versions of FP for many years and on different machines. I do not have, nor ever had, this issue with FinderPop.
I now run FP 2.4.9 in OSX 10.8.4 on a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with 4 GHz RAM. I have 15 items in the "FinderPop Items" folder, nine aliases, four separation folders, and two special link folders (one with ---a for all applications in Applications and Applications/Utilities and one with ---p for running processes).
When I click on icons in the Applications folder, selection is instantaneous. Also, there is no unusual memory use when FinderPop is enabled and used. At this very moment Activity Monitor reports 1.7GB of 4GB installed RAM to be free. (I restarted the machine about six hours ago because of an installation.)
Judging by posts in this support forum, only few people encounter the slowing of selection in the Applications folder. It must be something specific to your (and their) configuration, possibly a conflict with other software.
Did you give Turly the information he asked for in his last post (Dec 2011) here about this issue?