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What is System Events?
#24535 12/24/12 09:04 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
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Douglas Offline OP
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Every couple of weeks I clone my internal HD to an external HD connected via Firewire. Whenever I boot up using the external HD I get a screen window that say "Where is System Evens? With a list of numerous applications to chose from underneath. I just click on cancel and go about my business and everything seems to operate normally.

Just wondering what System Events is and where is it located and how I go about fixing this. This message never appears when I boot up using the internal HD.

I'm using Snow Leopard, 10.6.8 on a early 2009 Mac Min.

Thanks in advance and I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Re: What is System Events?
Douglas #24536 12/24/12 09:12 PM
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Try the links on this Google search page.

Good luck and Merry Christmas to you too!


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: What is System Events?
Douglas #24537 12/24/12 09:48 PM
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System Events can be found here: /System/Library/CoreServices/System Events. Chances are that this location request is triggered by a Folder Action/AppleScript running into an incorrect or deleted alias or path. You may find it in your account's Login Items (System Prefs/Accounts) on the boot volume. Canceling requests like this should have no negative consequences.


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Re: What is System Events?
alternaut #24543 12/25/12 03:31 PM
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Quote:
Chances are that this location request is triggered by a Folder Action/AppleScript running into an incorrect or deleted alias or path.

I agree that the request is prompted by an AppleScript script, but I don't think the problem is an incorrect or deleted path; more likely, it's simply that when Douglas boots from the external and the script runs, it encounters a reference to System Events (a faceless application which figures prominently in certain types of scripts), and since there are copies of System Events on both the external and the internal volumes, AppleScript throws up that dialog in order to learn which version to use.

As to why the dialog lists all applications available on these volumes, I think that's because the dialog is designed for any situation in which a script can't unambiguously locate a specified app, and this often includes occasions on which the user may have changed or modified the name of the app. The only way to be sure that the choices offered to the user include the correct app is to list all of them.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: What is System Events?
dkmarsh #24547 12/25/12 04:39 PM
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Good point, Dave. It never hurts to be reminded of the fact that too many choices can be just as show-stopping as none at all. That said, I hope this won't apply to your Christmas activities! wink


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Re: What is System Events?
Douglas #24747 01/10/13 05:27 PM
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it sounds like some startup item on that drive is trying to make an applescript call to "tell System Events to ..." and it can't find it for some reason or other.

System Events is a pretty good catch-all for using apple events for general control of the gui for things that aren't application specific.


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