contextual menu issue with OS 10.4.11

[jchuzi]

I am trying to help an elderly widow with her iMac (17-inch Late 2006) running OS 10.4.11. She is completely inept with anything technical so I can't ask her to troubleshoot without my being there.

Her problems started with a vertical line, similar to what is described in this Fine Tuned Mac thread. I know that that's not related to OS 10.4 but I mention it because she asked for help originally due to that issue. I went to her house and quickly found that she had other problems. (She barely knew that anything was wrong!)

Clicking on almost anything results in a contextual menu, even though Control was not pressed. I disconnected the keyboard, connected the mouse directly to the computer and got the same result, so the keyboard is not the problem.

Double-clicking a desktop folder does not open the folder. Instead, you can only open it from the unbidden contextual menu. Clicking on items in the menu bar works normally. I accessed System Preferences from the Apple menu but clicking on any of the preference panes produced no results. Oddly, I accidentally clicked on the desktop and got the Desktop and Screensaver preference pane. I had wanted to create a new account to test for a corrupted preference file but it was not possible to get to any preference pane.

Switching from icon view to list view cannot be done; all I got was a contextual menu. In fact, clicking almost anywhere (desktop included) produces a CM.

Dock icons do not respond to a single click as they should. Instead, I get a contextual menu and can click Open to launch the application. Clicking a bookmark in Safari results in a contextual menu.

I wanted to back up her system with SuperDuper. I had previously downloaded it, put it in an external firewire drive and brought the drive to her. I was able, via the pesky CMs, to mount the .dmg file but clicking on any button to install produced nothing. This was consistent with other windows that had buttons. If the button was blue, clicking with the mouse did nothing but pressing Return worked.

I booted from the Disk Warrior 4.2 CD and rebuilt the directory. Mouse clicks behaved normally. The problem was not solved upon rebooting. Consequently, I decided to run A&I, which got her to the original OS, namely 10.4.7. The problems did not go away. I ran Software Update to get her to 10.4.11 and was unable to deselect an update to Front Row, so I opted to install both. This did not make the problem go away.

She does not have Stuffit installed (some readers may recall that this caused problems with CM items) and there is nothing in /Library/Contextual Menu Items.

Due to the problem with her display, she will either have to have that replaced or get a new computer. If she does, I'm afraid to have her use Migration Assistant because that may bring across whatever is causing her problem.

I tested SMART with Disk Utility and it was "verified".

Any suggestions?

[Xairbusdriver]

Is it possible that she has Simple Funder enabled? I'll try that and see what changes it makes, other than the Menus.. Nothing in Help to indicate similar results to what you've reported...

[jchuzi]

I doubt it but I can check. Simple Finder should have no effect on Safari and the problem happened within Safari.

[jchuzi]

I have been thinking about possible solutions and came up with a plausible explanation. I won't know until I get back to her computer, of course.

It's possible that com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist is corrupted. It's located in ~/Library/Preferences. If so, both right and left clicks may have reset themselves to activate contextual menus. The problem occurs with clicking on either side of the mouse and she just told me that it developed a few days ago. I'll try to get to her house soon and then I'll post back with my results.

In the meantime, can anyone suggest another plist to try? I'm looking at the plists in my Snow Leopard setup and I don't know if they have the same names in Tiger.

[krissel]

Take a different mouse with you. Is she using an Apple mouse or another that might need software?

Create a new user account and test within that.

Safe boot to see if disabling all startup items makes a difference.
 
Be sure all Universal Access items are off.

Wouldn't hurt to go to ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/  and remove anything there.

[jchuzi]

Take a different mouse with you. Is she using an Apple mouse or another that might need software?

She is using an Apple Mighty Mouse (aka Apple Mouse). I'll try your suggestion about bringing my own mouse.

Create a new user account and test within that.

As I said, that wasn't possible because nothing happened when I clicked on any of the choices in System Preferences. That means that I couldn't get into the Accounts preference pane (or any other, for that matter).

Safe boot to see if disabling all startup items makes a difference.

Good idea. I'll play with a possible plist culprit first because I think that that's more likely to be the cause. She knows virtually nothing about computers so she probably has no idea about enabling startup items. She has very few third-party apps and uses the computer only for word processing (using Claris, I believe), email and web surfing.
 
Be sure all Universal Access items are off.

Nice idea if I could get into the UA preference pane.  

Wouldn't hurt to go to ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/  and remove anything there.

I thought of that too but there is no CMI folder in ~/Library in her system.

I'll try to get to her house later today and I'll post back with the results, for better or worse. In the meantime, keep the ideas coming.

[jchuzi]

The solution proved to be so simple that my face is red as a beet.    When I went to her house, she tried the mouse and it worked fine. I tried it and got the contextual menu. I realized that she was left-clicking and I was right-clicking. In my own setup, I have both buttons set as primary (i.e., left-click) buttons so I never bother to move my index finger; I just click. Since she didn't want the right button to be the secondary, I set it as primary (just like mine). Everything works perfectly now, except for the white stripe. I even set up her new printer and she is very happy, mostly.

The unhappiness is caused by the white stripe. I told her that she has three options: Live with it and the attending problems, have it repaired, or buy a new computer. The first option is not good because she can't access any menus that are covered by the stripe. Well, she can access them but can't read the options nor move the window.

She opted out of the second choice because she doesn't want to give up the computer for even a few days. So, she took the third and bought a new iMac. We went into Apple's website to compare the different models and I told her that the cheapest model would admirably suit her needs. It's way better than her present machine. My only caveat was that Appleworks 6 (which she uses for word processing) might not work in Snow Leopard. I will try to find a workaround for that.

I also told her to save her wired keyboard and mouse. My neighbor has a wireless keyboard and mouse and I really dislike both. At least she'll have the choice. I also promised to set up the new computer for her as soon as she gets it so she's happy, at least temporarily.

Man, do I feel stupid.    

EDIT: I have read   this Appleworks thread so I think that she's good for awhile. I have a copy of MS Office 2004 that I never installed and it has three valid serial numbers. I will probably give it her.

[Xairbusdriver]

Great sleuthing! It's almost always the simplest solution that works, but I often over analyse evruthing until I can come up with the most expnsive and difficult fix!!! : blush;

[jchuzi]

I should always remember the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.