An open community 
of Macintosh users,
for Macintosh users.

FineTunedMac Dashboard widget now available! Download Here

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
10.6.3 to 10.6.8 font problem
#30254 06/07/14 02:01 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
When I got 10.6 I few weeks ago, it was from a disc that came with 10.6.3. I installed it.

Then I downloaded and installed the update to 10.6.8 using the Combo updater, but after I did, the screen looked all wrong. Noticeably different. It looked like there was a font problem -- the system font was all thin and jagged, which was annoying because everything in 10.6.3 worked great and looked great, the best computing experience I've ever had. I think this problem applied to all fonts, to everything onscreen, but I'm not sure. It seemed radically different.

I re-installed it 10.6.3 over 10.6.8 from the original disc and everything looked fine again.

Unfortunately, I can't use the App store unless I have 10.6.8, so I'm debating whether to try the upgrade again.

I have my drive cloned to an external Firewire drive using SuperDuper, but I'm not sure how to revert back if I get the same problems with 10.6.8. I figure last time was a fluke when I simply re-installed 10.6.3 from the disc "on top of" 10.6.8 that was running on my main hard drive. I didn't know if it would work or if was a good idea, so I risked it.

Any thoughts about these matters, esp. problems w/upgrading from 10.6.3. to 10.6.8?

Re: 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 font problem
deniro #30255 06/07/14 03:45 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
I'm not having any font problems in 10.6.8. If you want to try it again and you want to revert to 10.6.3, boot from your SD (10.6.3) clone, erase the 10.6.8 drive, and clone back from 10.6.3 to the (former) 10.6.8 drive.

If you have the same issue after re-updating to 10.6.8, use Font Book to resolve duplicates and disable any questionable fonts. If you start up in Safe Mode, that will run a number of diagnostics, including clearing font caches.


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
fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
#30256 06/07/14 08:01 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
I upgraded to 10.6.8 from 10.6.3. The fonts for system are jagged, esp. the menus at the top of the screen, not matter what program is running. Other fonts seem to be a bit off too.

I did all the troubleshooting I know, including various maintenance and cleaning with onyx, removing fonts with font book, verifying fonts, resolving duplicates; removing non-system fonts; repairing permissions with both onyx and disk utility; holding down option on restart; deleting font cache and other caches; booting into safe mode; zapping the pram (haven't done that in many years.)

This happened before when I tried to upgrade. I went back to 10.6.3 because I couldn't figure it out.

The fonts look better when the display is set to 1440x900 but I can't read it that small. I always use 1152x70.

I'm stumped and grumpy.

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #30258 06/07/14 10:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
> I did all the troubleshooting I know...

But did you try re-running the 10.6.8 Combo Updater?

A re-run is the classic first step to take when dealing with update issues.

Edit: I've been running 10.6.8 for years with absolutely no issues, font or otherwise, and there's no inherent reason why you should be having trouble.

Last edited by artie505; 06/07/14 11:07 PM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #30259 06/07/14 11:35 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
If Artie's suggestion doesn't work (and I should have thought of that myself), go to System Preferences>Appearance and play with the font settings at the bottom. My system looks fine and my settings are:

(Box checked) Use LCD font smoothing when available.
Turn off text smoothing for font sizes 8 and smaller.


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: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
jchuzi #30260 06/07/14 11:41 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
I tried that.

I went back to 10.6.3. The hell with it. I'm tired of troubleshooting. I've done enough for one lifetime.

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
jchuzi #30262 06/07/14 11:48 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Quote:
(and I should have thought of that myself)

I'm embarrassed to say that I saw deniro's O.P. before you responded and didn't think of it. blush

Classic troubleshooting issues are so few and far between these days that what little I know is succumbing to disuse atrophy! frown


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #30263 06/07/14 11:55 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Originally Posted By: deniro
I went back to 10.6.3. The hell with it. I'm tired of troubleshooting. I've done enough for one lifetime.

I realize that you're frustrated, but don't let it get to you; you just ran into an unlucky glitch in your update procedure.

And if you need motivation, remember that you've got to update to 10.6.8 to avail yourself of Safari 5's extensions functionality...well worth another shot (or two tongue ) at the Combo, not to mention the fact that many apps that will run in 10.6.8 will not run in earlier versions of 10.6.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
artie505 #30281 06/10/14 01:55 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
When I have had a problem that is just inexplicable and can't be resolved, I wipe the HD with a seven-pass secure erase, which gets rid of remnants of everything, it does not just erase the directory. That is under 'Options' in the Disk Utility 'Erase' tab. It is a good idea to run disk utility for VERIFY DISK, not check directory before this to make sure your HD structure is good. (You should export your browser bookmarks to a file to make it easier to reinstall them before wiping the drive.) It can take about 12 hours for the seven pass wipe to complete. Then I install the system with the disks, do the updates, there are more than just the combined update for 10.6.8, there are a slew of updates that only come up if you keep going back to 'Check for Updates' under the Apple menu. Next I install my programs from the installer disks, not dragging over, and I drag not the entire user folder but the individual user files, those residing in the Desktop folder, the Documents folder, etc and then re-import my bookmarks and run disk utility again to both verify the disk and fix permissions, you may have to run Disk Permission more than once and the first time, it will take a very long time to complete. Everything is clean now, including any hidden files that may have corrupted and you would never know about. The process takes an overnight wipe of the drive and half a day of reinstalling, but works.

Time Machine will then run run a very long time because it will either do what is needed to compare the changes or start a new backup folder. There is a complete explanation of this that Ganbustein did to see why and how to access older backups if it did create a new folder or how to make more room on your Time Machine drive if it becomes full. I cannot locate the link right now but perhaps someone else can and copy and paste that explanation.

Last edited by slolerner; 06/10/14 02:01 PM. Reason: clarity

Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 13"
2.4GHz, 750GB SATA HD, 8 GB RAM, OS 10.7.5
1 HDX1500 2TB Ext.HD, 2 HDX1500 1TB Ext.HD
HP Laserjet 6MP printing postscript via 10/100 Intel print server
Netgear WN2500RP Range Extender (Ira rocks!)
Linksys WRT1900AC Wireless Router
Brother MFC-9340CDW Color Laser
iPad Air
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
slolerner #30323 06/14/14 06:28 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
> ...I wipe the HD with a seven-pass secure erase, which gets rid of remnants of everything, it does not just erase the directory.

That's not quite correct.

"Don't Erase Data" does no more than erase your directory, but "Zero Out Data" (1-pass) and 7 (Department of Defense grade) and 35 (ultra-secure)-Pass Erases do more or less the same additional thing, which is not "get[s] rid of remnants of everything", but overwrite everything, with the more passes you run making its recovery more difficult.

Unless you either require comprehensive security or simply wish to kill time in a computer-free manner (The time any overwrite takes is dependent on your configuration.), "Zero Out Data" should suit your purposes.

And in closing, I'll suggest one additional step to add to your excellent procedure: Since an overwrite maps out bad blocks, I suggest running a preliminary surface scan to determine your HDD's status in that respect.

Last edited by artie505; 06/14/14 08:55 AM. Reason: Cleanup

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
slolerner #30344 06/15/14 10:51 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
cyn Online
Administrator
Online
Administrator

Joined: Aug 2009
I moved a branch of posts to the Lounge: Back pain


FineTunedMac Forums Admin
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
cyn #31395 10/04/14 02:34 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
Thought I'd give this one another try, but the jagged font problem remains. Googling left me discouraged. Others had the same problem. I'm not sure there is a solution. Tried everything again. Not necessarily in this order:

Installed 10.6.8 combo updater
Resolved duplicates and verified fonts w/Font Book
Ran all Onxy options
Safe boot to reset Font database and Font book
Zapped PRAM
Manually removed fonts per advice on http://www.jklstudios.com/misc/osxfonts.html
Re-installed fonts from 10.6.3 retail disc using Pacifist
Re-installed 10.6.8 combo updater

Ran Software Update which gave me the following choices (I didn't download them):
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 17
Epson printer software update
Safari 5.1.10
Security Update 2013-004
Migration Asst update for snow leopard
Apple Software Installer update
itunes 11.4

Out of ideas. I'm not going to erase the hard drive.



Last edited by deniro; 10/04/14 06:26 PM.
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31398 10/04/14 07:11 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Moderator
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
I'm wondering if it's possible that your screen resolution got changed during your update to 10.6.8. Or, in other words, if you can get the fonts to display properly by changing your current screen resolution (regardless of whether that's your favorite one). Just curious.


alternaut moderator
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
alternaut #31400 10/04/14 08:23 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
Good thought. It looks better at 1440x90, not jagged, but I always use 1152x70.

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31404 10/05/14 12:18 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Can you post screenshots?


Photo gallery, all about me, and more: www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
tacit #31407 10/05/14 12:35 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
How?

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31409 10/05/14 08:39 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
You asked that question a while back, and I linked you to a post that explained precisely how to do it. (I think it was in a thread you started.)

Edit: Found it.

Last edited by artie505; 10/05/14 09:46 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
artie505 #31411 10/05/14 06:01 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009

Last edited by deniro; 10/05/14 06:03 PM.
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31412 10/05/14 06:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
I dunno; the fonts in your shots look no different than what I see on my screen in 10.6.8.

Can you post either a more extreme example or, for comparative purposes, a shot of what you saw in 10.6.3?

Edit: By way of example

Last edited by artie505; 10/05/14 07:14 PM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
artie505 #31416 10/05/14 09:26 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
To my eyes, your fonts look clearer.

Another page about Snow Leopard fonts

I've also been looking at this 10.6.8 updates

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31417 10/05/14 09:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
The only pertinent thing I see in your linked docs is

Quote:
The ‘Font smoothing style’ option in System Preferences > Appearances no longer has ‘Light’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Strong’ settings but only a checkbox to enable or disable font anti-aliasing.

from the first one.

I've got the referenced box checked.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
artie505 #31418 10/06/14 02:21 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
I tried to upload a 16k png but got the following message:

There's a Problem
User request limit exceeded .

Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
deniro #31419 10/06/14 05:20 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
That sounds like it's ISP related. Is your bandwidth limited?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
artie505 #31427 10/06/14 01:17 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
16k? That is so small, it sounds like the file is corrupt.

As far as the fonts, the menu may have a drop down for font weight, reg, bold, etc. but many times the bold, italic, other versions are shown by interpreting the original font bitmap (screen display part of font suitcase) "on the fly." It's a shortcut used on a lot of system fonts. The actual outlines, the postscript vectors, are downloaded to the printer according to what you specify and that creates the file that actually gets printed.

When you purchase a font and install it to the system through Font Utility, that gives you a proper bitmap for each weight, not an estimate or interpretation. Buying fonts is pretty cheap these days and may be worth it for those you use a lot. What you see on the screen is a more accurate version of the font's actual appearance.

I'm not sure this adds anything to the conversation...

Note: Newer fonts are usually sold as 'TrueType.' These don't need both vector and bitmap files, just one file. I don't really understand how it works but I use them and they work, so it must be magic.


Re: fonts jagged when upgrading to 10.6.8
slolerner #31429 10/06/14 02:05 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
deniro Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Sep 2009
From what I've read, there appear to be problems with the Helvetica and Helvetica Neue fonts. 10.6.8 added Helvetica Light. There are also MM versions in there and that shouldn't be.

The Helvetica conflicts seem to be a constant problem, judging by the hostile comments I've read. Too bad. Apple used to be known for superior font handling.

I had trouble deleting Helvetica Heue. Must have been recreated because Font Book kept showing duplicates. How can I be sure that Font Book always disables the right font? I can't. And I never know which version to pick, the .dfont or .ttc font, an older numbered version or a newer one. See Kurt Lang's page. There's a Protected Fonts folder I decided not to mess with. I manually removed Helvetica Neue last night but I'm not sure that was a good idea.

I used TinkerTool to change all the system wide fonts, but even a different font displayed jagged.

I have two pics which demonstrate the problem, but FreeImageHosting won't let me upload them.

Last edited by deniro; 10/06/14 02:08 PM.
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  alternaut, dkmarsh, joemikeb 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.042s Queries: 65 (0.029s) Memory: 0.7077 MB (Peak: 0.8854 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 12:23:01 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS