What happened to my iChat?

Do you have a backup you can restore to?

Do you have any screenshots you could provide?

Is iChat usually in your dock?

Did you try restarting your mac?
Throw us a bone here man

I did restart my mac, and now it works. Sorry i couldn’t get back to you sooner. I had class…

Anyway, thanks! I don’t really know what happened, but it’s all fixed now…

IT DOESN“T LIKE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

hahaha
99% of the time your mac freaks out, a restart fixes it.
.07% is fixed by repairing permissions
.03% is really hardcore errors

i know how to repair permissions on my iphone (and anyway, yes, there’s an app for that. thx, bigboss!) but i just got a macbook yesterday. it’s running fine but i’ll probably try out lots of software as is my vice, so how do i do it on the laptop? and is there an app for that too? if ?not, is it possible to write an app that will check (and fix if need be) permissions when you, uh, “install” stuff? or you just have to do it yourself from terminal?

Onyx and MainMenu do that.

cooooool! you’ve saved me mega time down the line. i know this for a fact, having reckelessly and relentlessly pushed my iphone into needing restores about every single month (more, sometimes). jailbroken, obviously. i’m aiming to actually learn objective c this year and make an app or two. but regardless, automation of routine stuff like permissions is an obviously good thing. i shall hunt those up right now!

oh hey——is there any “installer” for macbook, as there is for iphone (appstore, cydia, icy)? i was surprised at the process yesterday. in fact, i wasted some time because i was unfamiliar with that whole disk image business. it seems (from my one whole day) that each app has it’s own slightly different procedure (so far, i’ve added adiumx, candybar, textdrop——which after i went into ichat i see i don’t need—and tweetie). i plan to add gimp and also easier graphics stuff (to use while i learn gimp). plus…i just can’t resist playing with new apps.

There is no real “installers” that are 3rd party unless you are looking for unarchivers, etc.

But if you plan on installing a lot of new apps, you should use Appzapper (shareware) or Appcleaner (freeware) to uninstall them. Some programs leave a lot of unnecessary stuff behind.

thanks. i heard that from my son too, but you never know. will get appcleaner today. because my plans are moot. my temprement demands i try out apps! so i already know i’ll be doing that whether i plan to or not. : 0

also, thanks for freeware app. i’m recovering from med stuff, no income right now. and my family (who are awesome) won’t be buying me any apps! so it’s all freeware right now. my family, btw, got me this macbook and has totally supported me throughout my months back here (from oahu).

Yeah, no problem. It may be good to also search the archives for threads like “What are your favorite mac apps” or ask a question. I know I have tons.

i’m finding so much that i’m still looking around (new for me, usually i just jump in). i did add a few dashboard widgets, but not properly or something. the default choice resulted in the widget icon plus a zip file going into applications. then it asked me what “volume” i wanted it in, with the HD being the only choice. i deleted them instead since i’m unclear on this process. i used downloadthem all for a couple of regular apps and then some other thing that basically worked like an installer, but widgets, huh. i got one in yesterday but not from apple. just dragged and dropped. later found its “bundle” and deleted it to see if that was like the disk image. yep—the widget works fine. i wish i had a phone carrier right now. get tired of typing, have skpe but haven’t used it yet. ok, i’m gonna go now. sleepy. thanks a ton. prolly ask more stuff later. ; ) oh—i def would like to hear your favs if you ever feel like listing them.

Alright.

Bowtie
Dropbox
Vox
Handbrake
Fluid
Adium
Chax
Appupdate Widget (Better than comparable program AppFresh)
NetNewsWire
Quinn
Growl (A great notification system, highly recommended)
Caffine
DockDodger (Good once you start having apps you don’t want running in the dock)
iDMG
Transmission
GrandPerspective

There’s no way you’ll want to download all of those, those are just suggestions.

I also reccomend you browse thriftmac and the iusethis top apps to see what you find there.

awesome! off to check these out! adding you to my fluther (if i didn’t already, can’t recall). on a side note, hackintOsh won’t recognize my login on my new mac (lol!) but then, it recognizes it enuff that i can’t create a new account. i twittered them, i figure it’ll get fixed soon. it just make me laugh that i get a mac and now i can’t get into hackintOsh.

And they’re all free, by the way. I can suggest shareware too.

no, free is good. i’m not working right now. the mac is a gift from family. i don’t even wanna do shareware much because unsure how soon can pay (and don’t want to get attached!), tho i did make an exception for candybar. and i plan to buy candybar. it’s great, and i’m very into graphics. i’ve had many sweet summer/winterboard themes from iconfactory on my phone. i want to create themes. wanted to all year but had no tools. later when i have cash again, i’ll ask you about shareware.

i’m still learning about my mac. and having so much fun! i’m thinking of putting chrome on it. because i’m nuts—chrome for mac is very beta. but i love chrome! i’m in firefox right now, my second fav.

if you’re on twitter, i’d follow you if you want. just DM me.

I don’t have twitter. I did for a while, but I never really used it. Oh well. There are a few great shareware apps for graphics out there. Maybe i’ll dig up the links.

it’s really great for fast tech support and links. that’s pretty much what i do with twitter. if i use something i always add them to my twitter. usually you get answers back really fast, and also sometimes promo codes. like today, a canada iphone dev dm’d me that i could beta test his new “spymaster” game. it looks cool, so i said sure. twitter can be crap or good, just depends how you use it.

the appcleaner app works great!

Alright, yeah. Appcleaner is always one of the first apps I install on new macs, just because it’ll save you a lot of disk space if you use it right.

man, how are you one here so much? don’t they get mad at your school? or do they think your’re doing classwork on your laptop?

I’m out of school. Summer.

is there a way to use appcleaner wrong? if so, i wanna avoid that. i’m planning to try my hand this year at iphone dev stuff. don’t wanna have crap on the mac, or not a lot of crap anyway. also, a friend’s going to learn objective c with me (he used to code in c) but he lacks a mac right now, so i’ll have to share to some degree. (we’re going to get a mini 9 and make a hackintosh, but it doesn’t have the power to actually develop on it. i hear.)

I don’t think so. Just don’t delete any Apple default apps, i.e. mail, iPhoto, etc.

your list is truly perfect for me. i always look for useful apps. i had in growl and adium, but the rest i hadn’t heard of. i can’t see how to install widgets. i read how, but it didn’t do anything.

Just download it, click on it, and their should be an “Install” option.

ha! it’s so funny you say that. i asked my kid about doing that because, you know, save space (like, i think the mail program bites). he advised against.

on iphone i’ve manually deleted all the extra language stuff. several restores were because of iphone apps i deleted. you can delete some, but others will zap the phone. i basically quit doing that. and put on not quite so much stuff (i have hundreds of apps on my phone, mostly from cydia).

just say your note: i must have done something wrong. didn’t get the install part. will try again later. you are so cool. i really appreciate the help, because right now no one who’s here gives a crap about this so i have to figure everything out on my own. which takes a long time! and i don’t want to do anything that will hurt my new mac.

i’m curious tho, what happens when you delete stuff like mail? (the very one!) and does that apply to widgets too (stocks, etc). if it does, uh oh. because i did delete some widgets.

Widgets should be fine.

If you want to remove space, xslimmer can remove some stuff from programs, such as the powerpc program or the unnecessary language files.

whew! will do that. onyx took a long time (so long i went to sleep) with permissions and script maintence. surprised. but good—i was wondering why adium didn’t seem to do so much so before i fell asleep i was reading about it on my phone. duh, gotta add xtras.

you’re my mac guru!