Several times I've tried using Apple's Help function. Sometimes what I'm looking for is available in the machine, other times it advises that the content is not available because I am not connected to the Internet.
Just now I went online to get Help to determine how to change a folder icon (because it isn't the same way as it was in OS 9).
I entered "folder icon" in the search, which came back with 63 items, the fifth of which was the topic I was looking for. When I selected that, it came back with content not available because I'm not connected to the Internet – which I clearly am.
What's going on?! And second, how do I change a folder icon?

Change your icons:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2493

HTH

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. And the process seems to be the same as in OS 9 – I must have forgotten one step in the process that made it not work for me.

That said and done, what about the main problem delineated in this thread? And how to get around it, when Apple doesn't think I'm connected to Internet?

Anybody know if there is a master list of these help documents so that one can access them directly?

While you're there, did you go straight from OS9 to Lion (10.7)?

I'm sorry I don't have time to read all your posts where you may have said this.

If yes, that is an Everest-sized leap and I'm not surprised you're having migration problems*. It was bad enough when we went from OS9 to Tiger (10.4), but at least after that the upgrade to Snow Leopard (10.6) was pretty easy.

You missed Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. I don't know why they gave them those names either.

Yes – from 9.0.4 to 10.7 > 10.7.1.

And CRAP! I inadvertantly changed my Macintosh HD icon to something else. Is the original icon stored elsewhere on the iMac (so that I can get back to status quo ante)? Or do I have to find a palette of Apple icons somewhere else?

Grelber, did you consider a less explosive transition? (from OS9)

Just wondering.

I've never changed folder icons, have never seen any need to fiddle with cosmetics like that. It's more getting the network up and running and getting work done which engages me. Sorry.

BTW "help" files are not always what they say. I started a thread on this only today.............had to work it out for myself in the end.

To go back to the default/generic icon, begin the process as you would for an icon change (i.e., Get Info...). Click on the icon present in the Get Info box, hit the Delete key and the original will take its place. You may have to then close the Get Info window for this to happen.

Ira L: Perfect! If I had an (emot)icon for "Hats off to you!", I'd use it here.

Bensheim: No. I've never liked OS X, even though I've used it frequently on others' computers. And my experience so far with 10.7.1 ain't making me think differently. It's one thing just using someone else's set up for trivial things; it's quite another trying to make mine do my bidding.

Computers were supposed to evolve to be more user friendly. Not so much. It's very like late model cars: One used to be able to change spark plugs and do other bits and pieces of maintenance under the hood; now that's all but impossible. Sure, cars are a lot more trouble-free these days, but no longer does one feel in control of the inner workings. I suspect that's why manufacturers have put in so many cup holders ....

FTM Moderators (and other FTM nabobs): Even with my dial-up modem access to the Internet, FTM pages load "like stink" (kudos); by comparison, loading Apple pages (if they load at all) just stinks.

They did evolve (to be more user friendly) but you have missed about ten years of that evolution by jumping from 9 to Lion.

Dial up? Don't you have broadband there? (another can of worms...)

And I was blissful in my ignorance. {sigh}


Yes indeed. And it costs 4-5x what I'm laying out for dial-up service. Given that I'm on the Internet less than 3 hours per day, it'd be an even greater waste of resources (which I'd rather put to wine acquisition).
When my current dial-up contract runs out, I'll likely have to switch to a monthly plan, to which I'll tack on "accelerated access', which compresses web files for ca 5x faster access. And so on, and so forth.

When we switched from dial-up to broadband, we reduced the monthly phone bill by 90%.

I am not exaggerating.

Also, once you're on broadband, you'll use the internet far more than you do now, because it's always-on, and there are no bills ticking away, per second, as on dial-up.

It makes no difference here; dial-up is a local call and so no extra charges.


I have no inclination to spend more time on the Internet. Life is too short and there are many more interesting things to do. That's also why I don't have cable/satellite for TV – I'd wind up never leaving the house, ordering in pizza every day, and gradually wind up looking like Jabba the Hutt. No thanks.

There is as far as I know, no logical connection between moving to broadband and becoming Jabba the Hut. It's up to the individual's lifestyle.

BFN

Indeed. There are about 100 hours of programs per day that I'd want to watch. The problem is clear-cut: there are only 24 hours per day. Ergo, no cable/satellite. No temptation. No frustration. QED

Really?! Nobody has a clue about resolving the issue with which I started this thread?

Time to give Apple support a phone call and see if they do. I ain't holding my breath.

EDIT: Just spent a fair bit of time with a senior Apple advisor who thinks the problem is with the Firefox browser.
Actually, I just tried using the Help function in Finder. (No browser involved, neither Firefox nor Safari.)
A Help Center window opens. As a test I enter "function key" (without quotes), and under All Help 31 articles show up. I choose any one of them and:
First, "Content not available" pops up (because I'm [supposedly] not connected to the Internet);
second, nothing comes up and the colored wheel just keeps spinning, after which "Content not available" shows up.
So ... it's not a problem with any browser, it's a problem with the Help function in the menu bar and then with the Help Center to which the former directs.
Clearly a problem with Apple and/or OS 10.7.1.
I should probably just resign myself to the fact that this particular thing is never going to work and that I'm permanently SOL when it comes to getting help out of my iMac or from Apple's support website. (Now there's an irony.)

Is your default browser set to Firefox or Safari?

Also, go to your home folder. Inside your home folder, open Library, then Preferences. Delete com.apple.help.plist and com.apple.helpviewer.plist.

The X-Lab, Troubleshooting Help Viewer doesn't mention 10.7 but it might still help you, especially the Reset Help Viewer part. That procedure worked fine for me in previous OS versions.

My default browser is set to Firefox 7.1.



Remember: I'm using 10.7.1*, so none of your proposals can be carried out. I can see all those items (including some others suggested for deletion in the X Lab article recommended by jchuzi) and even 'select' them; but deletion attempts result in the 'gong'.

* Library in home folder is 'hidden' (ie, not accessible); it can be placed (and made 'visible') under Favorites in Finder sidebar, but the system will not allow deletions at any level.
Ergo, I'm screwed. (What else is new with Lion?!)

Look at Delete Specific Application Saved States from Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Resume.

You can force-delete files via Tinker Tool System (well worth the price, IMHO). Launch TTS, click the Files tab and then click the Force Delete tab.

Really? I have no trouble deleting preference files on 10.7.1. What have you done to your permissions?

Thanks, but that would take me way beyond my 'comfort' level. If there's no way to do it with what I've got, then there's no way.

I can't explain the situation any better that I have already.
As far as I know, I haven't done anything to my permissions, for the simple reason that I don't know what permissions are, what they do, how one might do anything to them, and so forth. (I raised this issue in these forums before I even got the machine and was counseled not to worry about it. See #17673.)

Given that 10.7 seems to be radically different from earlier versions of OS X, unless there's a officially-sanctioned version-specific fix, one that even I can understand, I'm not going to experiment. I've already gotten into severe trouble on that score a couple of times, and it's scared the crap out of me.

EDIT: I should add here (as addendum to #18192 above) that when I spoke with the senior Apple advisor he never mentioned "Help Viewer" (even though that was the topic of discussion). He wanted me to do something called a "safe boot" and fool around with my browsers — which, as noted, have nothing whatsoever to do with Help Viewer, since that seems to function completely independently of browsers (and both Firefox and Safari weren't active). And, of course, when I tried to get "help" to get information on what that so-called safe boot is about, all I got was "Content not available".

Bottom line: I'm no closer to a resolution of the problem(s) raised in this thread than before.
And since my accessing Help and Help Center is essential to my learning how to deal with this machine and this system, not being able to leaves me in limbo and in grief.

I continue to be consternated by this system and frustrated at almost every turn. But I've made the decision to stick with it (in spite of my strong feeling that I should just return to my old iMac and OS 9).
On the other hand, there are obviously problems which are just not going to be solved (via these forums or otherwise), and I'm not likely to acquire the ability to deal with them. The expertise may be out there, but I'm stymied as to how to tap into it. Without simple and transparent solutions my 'experiment' with this equipment will lead me ultimately to give up.
Apple's products are not simpler and easier and more transparent to use than the competition's (although they used to be); I guess that's the ultimate 'seduction' (read: trap) that Uncle Steve talked about.

Try this:

Open your Users Library folder and find the files that you would wish to delete. Select one of the files and either press Command-I or go to File>Get Info. The Get Info window will tell you who owns the file if you look under Sharing & Permissions (you may have to click the triangle to expand it).

In order for you to be able to delete the file, your account should have Read & Write privileges. If not, you can change it via the double arrows alongside it. If it is grayed out, click the padlock icon and enter your administrator password when prompted. Then, you should be able to change the privileges and delete the file. Do the same for the other files, if necessary.

I am writing this based upon my Snow Leopard installation. Some of the terms may have been slightly changed in Lion so be prepared for that.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have no idea where a Users Library folder might be.
The only place I find Users is in System Preferences, and that just tells me that I myself (as Admin) am using the computer.

I just have no idea what's going on with this set-up. The logic in my brain has no correlation to that in the computer's system.

OS X is set up as a hierarchy of folders which you can see if you double-click the hard drive icon. Some of these are:

Applications
Library
System
Users

The above folders are said to be at the root level of the drive, meaning that they are not contained within any other folders. Within them are other files and folders:

Applications contains apps that may be available to all users of the computer.
Library has folders that may apply to all users.
System contains folders that are needed to run the OS itself and you shouldn't touch anything in there unless you really know what you are doing.
Users contains a folder for each user (read "account" here). In OS X versions previous to Lion, yours has a house icon (meaning "Home"). I don't know if this has changed in Lion. Changes to a particular User account neither affect other accounts nor the folders at the root level of the drive.

If you look inside Users, you will see the name of your user account. Within your account folder, there will be a Library, which is hidden by default in Lion. To access that Library, in the Finder, Option-click the Go menu and you'll be able to access it from there (if you just click Go without holding Option, it won't be available).

Within that Library, you'll find many subfolders and you should be able to access the files that you want. I suspect that your problem in deleting items may have resulted from your being in the Library at the root of the drive. (Actually, there is a third Library as well, located in System.)

Each User should be able to add to or delete items from his/her Users folder. If you still can't do this, I suggest that you repair permissions. Follow the instructions in Mac OS X - Using Disk Utility to Repair a Disk. It won't hurt to do this and should only take a few minutes. In Snow Leopard, I get wildly inaccurate estimates of the time (like 30 minutes) but it actually takes about three. I also get lots of spurious messages that I have learned to ignore. I don't know if this has been fixed in Lion. At any rate, repairing permissions is, at worst, harmless.

When you launch System Preferences and access Users (Accounts in OS's previous to 10.7), that lets you make some changes to your User account like adding accounts, deleting accounts, changing passwords, and/or changing the type of account. We'll go into that later when you feel more comfortable with Lion.

I'm happy that you are sticking with OS X for awhile. I know that this is new to you but practice makes perfect. At one time, OS 9 was new to you and you certainly feel comfortable navigating it.

No dice on all counts.

I went to HD and into my home folder and it won't allow me to delete anything (just like before).

That article on Disk Utility is useless since my iMac didn't come with any disks. So I apparently can't repair permissions or anything else for that matter.

As for making "changes to your User account like adding accounts, deleting accounts, changing passwords, and/or changing the type of account", what would that be in aid of?!

- - - - -

I found a Disk Utility application in my Utilities folder. It doesn't allow me to repair the disk (ie, Repair Disk is greyed out).

I was able to repair permissions on a bunch of modem related issues, which were the only things Verify Disk Permissions found out of sorts, except for:

Warning: SUID file “System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent” has been modified and will not be repaired.

What's up with that? I have no idea what any of that means or whether it's a disaster.

Moreover, one of the Disk Utility's instructions states:
If the disk needs repairs, start up from your Mac OS installation disc, and then choose Utilities > Disk Utility.

Yeah, how with no Mac OS installation disc?!?!?!?

This all seems to be a cruel sick joke designed to drive people like over the edge. It's pretty much working.

You can still use Disk Utility to repair permissions. It is located in Applications/Utilities. Perhaps the easiest way to get there is by clicking Finder's Go menu and then selecting Utilities. Double-click DU to launch it. In the DU window, select your hard drive and then click Repair Permissions (don't bother with Verify).

If you need to run Repair Disk, you have to boot from the Recovery partition that was created in Lion. Start up while pressing Command-R; release the keys when you see the Apple logo. You can read the complete instructions in Preparing your Lion repair kit.

Let's see if I can give you a better idea of the usefulness of accounts. OS X was designed for multiple users, so that you don't need multiple computers for each person who needs a computer. Each user can have a separate account with its own email, preferences, desktop, etc., just as if he/she had a separate computer.

It is useful to set up an account for troubleshooting purposes. If you are having difficulties, diagnosing the cause can be helped by this. Lets say, for example, that Safari is crashing. The problem might be caused by something in your main account or it might be due to a problem outside of the User folder. To test this, you can log into the test account and try Safari from there. If the problem is gone, the cause is in your main account and you can troubleshoot from there. If the problem still occurs in the test account, the cause lies outside the Users folder.

In the Users & Groups section of System Preferences, click the lock icon to open it and enter your administrator password at the prompt. Then, click Add (+) and follow the prompts. I find it useful to make the test account an administrator account and I have named mine Emergency. Follow the rest of the prompts to complete the process.

When you want to log into the test account, go to the Apple menu and click Log Out. All apps will quit, the desktop will disappear, and you'll see a list of available accounts. Click the test account and you'll be in.

The test account will be pristine, as if nobody had set up any preferences, Safari bookmarks, email accounts, etc. It's probably best to leave it as unsullied as possible for testing purposes. When you want to get back to your main account, log out as before and then log into your main account. It will have been untouched.

I added a bit to my previous post just as you put in yours.

I appreciate your thorough instructions, but I'm way too insecure to try any of them.
Even if I were able to muddle way through the mechanics of, say, setting up another 'account', just as here, I wouldn't have a clue what to do with it. (So what's the point of even trying?)
I'd rather have a machine which operates marginally rather risk one that doesn't operate at all. That'd take me right back to DOS days, when I'd just sit there watching the C-prompt flashing and not having clue how to go any further and never did learn how. (That's why I got into Macs in the first place. Now I'm right back where I was 30 years ago ... and I don't like it.)

I can't speak for Lion, but the SUID messages in previous OS's could be ignored. It's beyond me why Apple hasn't fixed this issue because it just serves to alarm and/or annoy people. For more info than you ever want, read Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore. FWIW, I get a ton of them. At least you're limited to one (for the moment, anyway).

You can run Verify Disk without booting from the Recovery partition by launching Disk Utility as you did before. If everything is OK, you'll be told, obviating the need to go further. Otherwise, the procedure should be harmless at worst and helpful at best. I sympathize with your insecurity but rest assured that it's OK to do this.

Adding an account is a GOOD THING. I strongly urge you to do it.

Rant:

[I just moved this to the Lounge. Focus needs to be on resolving the "Content not available" issue here.]

I went into ~/Library/Preferences (yet again) and still could not "delete" the help-related plist items. When I opened the files, the title bar indicated that they were locked. However, I could erase the contents manually. ?!?!
I could also (as suggested by X Lab) drag the file to the Trash and also empty the Trash.

Results:
Offline — Help seems to work fairly well.
Online (for info for which "Content not available" pops up upon search when offline) — Hit or miss, about 50/50, but at least 50% of the time it works now.

So, for the moment at least, problem solved and approach noted (ie, Trash, rather than Delete).

I guess it's a terminological problem. I'm quite sure that everyone else in this thread meant "drag the file to the Trash and also empty the Trash" when they advised you to "delete" the file. That's what it means to delete a file.

That's what it meant in OS X 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6.

That's also what it meant in OS 9.

It's not at all unreasonable for grelber to have thought that "delete" meant "select the item to be deleted and hit command-delete," which is what it meant in OS....

Edit: And dragging an item to the Trash to delete it is not the least bit intuitive in the face of command-delete, which is how I've always deleted files unless they don't allow me to do so.

When it comes to computers, I'm a literalist.
Not to belabor the point: Delete means delete (via the key which reads 'delete'). Trash or drag to trash +/- empty trash means something else (ie, what it says).
I've never considered delete and trash to be synonyms; and probably I've never thought about the issue (until now) when I've gotten rid of a file by dragging it to Trash. My bad.

As I said, your literal interpretation of the proffered advise was on the mark.

But neither trashing files nor emptying the Trash is, as a rule, necessary to reach your end in instances such as this; as a matter of fact, we generally advise users to drag files to their desktop to test whether or not they need to be trashed rather than immediately trash them.

(This is the first instance I recall running into in which a user was prevented from deleting a file without being offered the opportunity to authenticate.)

Except that grelber didn't say anything about command-delete: "Delete means delete (via the key which reads 'delete')." Ergo, it's pretty clear that he was selecting the item to be deleted and simply hitting "delete."

If that's ever been the way to delete a file on a Mac, it was longer ago than System 7.

The same thought crossed my mind, and I typed it into my post, but then I decided that the misstatement was an oversight on grelber's part, because, after all, it's a fair assumption that he has deleted at least one or two files during the eleven years he's been running his iMac, and deleted it.

But now that you've put it that way, it becomes clear that that's exactly what he was trying to do...that the system sound he heard when trying to delete was OS X saying, not that he couldn't delete the files, but that he couldn't delete them that way, and my questioning the lack of an authentication dialog box is thus moot (and ganbustein's question is answered too).

Edit: This post was originally a reply to joemikeb's Re: Erasing & formatting thumbdrive.



No. Apple Help Center via Help Viewer will not yield anything but "Content not available" no matter what I do.

Is that the entire content of the pop-up you're getting, or are you still getting that "Not connected..." stuff? (Would your copying and pasting the contents of the pop-up into a post be more informative?)

Edit: Please post a couple of search terms for which you're not getting any results and let us try them for ourselves on Macs other than yours.

The same old thing - Help Center in Help Viewer:
Content not available
This information isn't available because your computer isn't connected to the Internet.
To view this information, connect your computer to the Internet. If you have trouble connecting, use Network Diagnostics.

Samples:
Repairing permissions
Spring-loaded folders (see that thread for more commentary)

OK, then... Let's try Network Diagnostics (the instructions for locating which in OS X 10.6.x are, I note, incorrect both on my deuced Mac(hina) and on-line): Launch /Applications/System Preferences > Network, and if your Lion looks like my Snow Leopard you'll find an "Assist Me" radio button at the bottom of the pane.

Work your way through its easy-to-follow instructions and see what, if anything, it tells you.

Edit: The aggravating thing about this is that I know I've experienced your issue, likely back in the days when I was running a modem, but it was so long ago that I haven't got a clue how it was resolved.

Damn!!! I lost this post when cyn locked the thread!!! Aaargh!!! :resigned:

I just had another thought, again predicted on the assumption that your Lion looks like my Snow Leopard: When you launch /Apps/SysPrefs > Network you should see a sidebar that lists all or some of AirPort, Ethernet, FireWire, Thunderbolt, and, I assume, Modem.

If Modem is not the topmost item, click on the work wheel (the little gear-like icon towards the bottom of the pane), select "Set Service Order," drag Modem to the top, and click on "OK." (I assume you'll also have to save your change Edit: before you can quit SysPrefs.)

For good measure, shut down your iMac and start it up, and see if your situation has changed.

Backround: There are three ways to "save" changes you make to your system (such as trashing those Help plists):

1. Logging out of your account and back in,
2. restarting your iMac, and
3. shutting down and starting up your iMac.

Each successive option gets deeper into the system, so I've recommended #3 as the most likely to do you the most, (fingers really crossed, here, if any) good.

I have no problem with the network connection because I'm on it and everything else works just fine.

I've shut down and restarted the machine several times. This has achieved nothing except saving electricity.

Via another hour-long telephone session with Apple support earlier today, I carried out the following instructions ...

In ~/Library/Preferences: Trash helpviewer.plist and helpviewer.plist.lockfile

In ~/Library/Caches: Trash all folders

In Macintosh HD/Library/Caches: Trash all folders

Restart iMac, and then Empty Trash.

Doing so (seems to have) corrected:
– The spring-loaded folder/file issue
– The Help Center / Help Viewer issues
– Who knows what else?

So, clearly there was much corruption in my iMac/OS X which has been dealt with.

If this overlaps with suggestions by others in these forums, then once again I thank assembled gurus.

As tacit suggested on page 1, to which you stated that only resulted in a "gong" -- and thus the topic of home folder permissions arose.

So, 'whither went the gong?' one wonders.

> So, 'whither went the gong?' one wonders.

Without searching this thread post by post for references... Apparently, the first time grelber tried to delete that file he simply selected it and hit "Delete" (Edit: not command-delete[!]), thus the gong.

I believe he later accomplished the deed by dragging the file to the trash.

Since OS X, itself, directed you to Network Diagnostics, and considering your newness to OS X, your own analysis of your situation and resultant decision to ignore ND seem to me to be contrary to the best interests of a user who is really trying to help himself; I haven't got a clue what ND may have reported, nor, most assuredly, have you.

My suggestion was not to just shut down your iMac and start it up again; I posted a list of steps to be performed prior thereto. (Ref. previous paragraph.)

Thanks. I misunderstood your suggestions.
However, the Network Diagnostics procedure would now seem to be moot.
See post #18396 above pointing out the procedure which seems to have corrected most, if not all, of the problems I've been experiencing.

Network Diagnostics are, indeed, moot for the moment, but I still recommend that you check in SysPrefs > Network as I suggested.

Even if your connectivity issue has been solved, having "Modem" as your top item would not hurt in the least and may, in fact, help something that you haven't even realized needs help.

I've read your posts detailing Apple's approach to your issues, and I've certainly got my fingers crossed for you, but I dunno... Some of Not all the issues you've detailed just don't seem to have been vulnerable to the steps you've taken.

Good luck, though!

Actually, I open Network every time I go on line (eg, it's open right now); I can connect from that panel and monitor time online as well as whether stuff is loading. And Modem is indeed my top item.

Clearing those caches still seems to have done the trick.
In fact, earlier today I showed a colleague with a new MacBook Pro running Lion how to do that, and it likewise cleared up a whole bunch of problems he was experiencing in Word and Mail.

I'm happy, although still mystified, that clearing those caches has apparently turned all the tricks that needed turning, but just remember that trashing entire cache folders willy-nilly has the potential to cost you data and/or settings that not only most likely have nothing to do with your issue but may be a major nuisance to recreate.

I hear you. If it does anything nasty like you describe, I've got a case number and the name of the Apple advisor who claimed that in Lion it won't hurt to do it. That was my concern when he suggested it, but he insisted that it was the way to go. (He may wind up stacking boxes in the back room if he's wrong.)

> He may wind up stacking boxes in the back room if he's wrong.

Naaah! They'll just transfer him to the Windows Help-Line.