[alcimedes]

User describes the problem as this.

"When they're in a folder, they click on a file and the file name changes to the name of another file in that same folder. When they try to open either of them, both open the same file now. File A is renamed File B, and now the folder has two File B's.

It occurs randomly but anywhere on the drive. (Local folders or network folders)

A restart fixes the problem."

In my entire life I've never seen anything like this. Any suggestions?

[blakbyrd]

Instead of shutting down, you could just force quit the Finder every time it occurs, that might help, but wouldn't solve the cause. Hnn.

[alcimedes]

It's been a day and nothing?

[chucker]

I occasionally have that problem. It's a Finder/file services bug. Logging out and back in should do.

[alcimedes]

Ok, I get the logging in and out should fix it, but does anyone know what the underlying problem is?

I've never actually seen this happen on any machine I've worked on, which makes me think there's got to be something specific wrong/going on here for it to occur. Any ideas what that might be and how to fix it?

Corrupted system pref or something?

[julesstoop]

Strange. Never seen this.
Could there be something wrong on the filesystem level? In that case a disk repair might help.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by julesstoop Strange. Never seen this. Could there be something wrong on the filesystem level? In that case a disk repair might help.

I can only speak for my own cases of this occurring, but no, it's not on the file system level: if you do 'ls' in Terminal, you get the correct view. It's only in Finder (and open/save dialogs, etc.) that it's borked.

[thuh Freak]

Originally Posted by chucker I can only speak for my own cases of this occurring, but no, it's not on the file system level: if you do 'ls' in Terminal, you get the correct view. It's only in Finder (and open/save dialogs, etc.) that it's borked.

I would think a re-install of the base OS would be necessary then.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by thuh Freak I would think a re-install of the base OS would be necessary then.

Not at all. It's just a temporary fluke. Just some caching problem. No permanent damage.

[alcimedes]

So has anyone ever come across a cause or permanent solution to this problem? (short of logging out/in)

[Ebby]

I've seen this before. It is either corrupt cache files or a failing disk. Scan the S.M.A.R.T. status in disk utility and clear caches using OnyX and restart. that should fix it.

[709]

I've seen this problem on failing disks as well. I'd back it all up and replace the HD, but that might be just me. I've been burned a few times with shit like this and I've learned to be overly cautious.