It is most unusual to get a problem with Preferences. The file contains the app-installed preference defaults, as subsequently modified. However, if a problem is suspected, a number of things may be tried.
For the non-tech user…
…who doesn't like looking at under-the-hood stuff:
- Locate the Preferences file (for location see below).
- Ensure you have your Tinderbox licence code to hand. NB: the licence is needed only if you have to can't roll back to existing Preferences after testing.
- Close Tinderbox, if open.
- Drag the "Tinderbox™ Preferences" file to another place such as the Desktop.
- Restart Tinderbox, which causes a new Preferences file to be created. If demo mode doesn't enable you to test as needed, you will need to re-apply your licence info via the About dialog.
- Test Tinderbox and if no change:
- Close the app, and copy the old Preferences back over the new set.
- Contact technical support.
- Or, if the problem goes away:
- Continue using the new preferences.
- Re-apply your licence key if you haven't already.
- Check the Tinderbox Preferences dialog in the app and make any customisations to restore your preferred settings.
- Archive or delete the old preferences file.
For the more technical user…
…the Preferences are a text file so you can open it in a proper text editing (not a word processor!) and look for any obvious corruption. The file includes the Recently Used Files list and in earlier v5 versions some more exotic filenames/paths caused problems .Deleting the corrupt path listing could normally fix Preferences (assuming no other errors). The latter problem seems to have been resolved in later v5 releases.
If confident using a text editor and if forced to use a new Preferences file, the old file can be viewed/compared and used as a reference to re-apply any desired non-default settings via the Tinderbox Preferences dialog.
Locating the Tinderbox Preferences file
Tinderbox's Preferences files normally normal located at:
~/Library/Preferences/Tinderbox™ Preferences
From v5.0.2, users wanting to share Preferences between several users of the same Mac may elect to copy/move their Preferences file to:
/Library/Preferences/Tinderbox™ Preferences
Tinderbox checks the latter folder for a Preferences file and if found, uses it in preference to any local version.