[ROUGH GUIDE] Fix for Finder Preview not working on Mojave 10.14.1+

[Averett]

Hi all,

after updating to Mojave with my trusted Gigabyte Z77 UP5TH (onboard Intel HD 4000) with NVIDIA GTX670, I found that Preview was no longer working. Tapping the space bar on any item on the desktop or in the finder would no longer yield the expected preview image, but only the spinning circle: Preview was stuck. So I dove deep on this forum, and found various solutions. If you, like me, cannot afford to waste days of figuring out how this works to find the right plugin etc, this might help.
NOTE: Canny Vulgo has found a way to do this permanently via a Lilu plugin -- see here (https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/preview-not-working-in-osx-mojave-10-14.263027/#post-1833405).

If you don't want to go Vulgo's way for whatever reason, here is the "quick and easy" fix. It involves changing a setting inside one of Apple's private frameworks, but it worked perfectly for me. I tried all other fixes (except Vulgo's) and they failed for me.

Downsides of this solution:

• If Apple should choose to update that file, you would have to do it again. You would notice by preview not working anymore... but probably know where to look. I therefore consider this an inelegant but time saving solution.
• You need a text editor that is NOT from the Apple Store, as Apple's Text Editors from there do not get permission to edit this file. I tried it with the official TextWrangler version from the Apple Store but it can't. Get BBEDit from the same software company directly off their website, and it will do the job.

So here is what the problem is and what you do to solve it:
Mojave installed an internal list of which Mac model can use hardware de-/encoding for images and other files.
This makes some Mac SMBIOS definitions (e.g. the vanilla iMac 14,2 definition I use) incapable of showing images in Preview, as your hardware might not actually support hardware encoding/decoding but the Finder assumes it will because of this new setting.

To change this, we have to remove the entry that tells the Finder it should use hardware image processing for your SMBIOS definition. So that's all - removing an entry from a plist file. Follow these steps:

1. In the Finder, press Command-Shift-G and enter this to go to find the file:
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleVPA.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Info.plist

2. Copy this file and save it somewhere for restoration purposes later if needed.

3. Open the original file in its original location with eg TextWrangler or BBEDit.
(NOTE: the AppStore version of TextWrangler will not allow this, see above).

4. In that file, find your used Mac Board ID. If you do not know it, here's how to do that:

• start Clover Configurator (available above under Downloads->Community Software),
• mount your EFI Partition under Tools - Mount EFI (probably something like EFI on APFS Container),
• then choose "Open..." and pick the config.plist in the EFI/CLOVER/ folder,
• choose SMBIOS and look at the "Board-ID" entry.
  (In the case of the 14,2 definition it's Mac-27ADBB7B4CEE8E61).

5. Once you have found that entry in the Info.plist file, (in my case it was in line 76) it will look like this:

<key>Mac-27ADBB7B4CEE8E61</key>
<dict>
<key>forceOfflineRenderer</key>
<true/>
<key>jpeg</key>
<true/>
</dict>​

6. DELETE this section.
7. SAVE.
8. Restart.

Your Preview should now work again (it did for me).
Thanks to Vulgo and others for making this information available.

 

[dj-ek]

This worked perfectly for me!
I can't thank you enough! This was literally the last thing I needed to do, to get my Hack fully functional.

I really wasn't keen on the previously accepted method, of messing with the Smbios & Model, which seems to have a chain-reaction on all my other Apple devices & my Apple ID..
Every time this happens to me, it seems to take weeks for all my laptops, AirPorts, phones etc to stop asking me to sign in..

This seriously needs to be pinned or added into the official Mojave guide!

Thanks again!

 

[lurok91]

Also worked for me. Thanks!

 

[Petaire]

Hey,

Am I the only that has issues with h264 previews ?

 

[Averett]

Hey,

Am I the only that has issues with h264 previews ?

Works for me. Have you tried the above solution? If it doesn't work, this might not be the problem that is causing your issue. Please let us know here what you tried and if it worked.

 

[Petaire]

Nope, it worked only for jpeg preview. But I'm pretty sure I've got an issue with my iGPU. I can see it in the system report (as "Intel Coffe Lake GT2") even though I've put everything in ig-platform-id. If someone wants to take a look at my config.plist...

I'm pretty sure it's related, because FCPX is staggering like hell for a simple 1080p footage. Even reading the footage is freaking slow.

 

[Averett]

Nope, it worked only for jpeg preview. But I'm pretty sure I've got an issue with my iGPU. I can see it in the system report (as "Intel Coffe Lake GT2") even though I've put everything in ig-platform-id. If someone wants to take a look at my config.plist...
I'm pretty sure it's related, because FCPX is staggering like hell for a simple 1080p footage. Even reading the footage is freaking slow.

Not that I know too much about this, but it does sounds more like an issue of your internal graphics card not properly being integrated into the system. Have you tried setting up your system without it (external graphics only), or do you require it? Either way, if it works without you know the culprit.

 

[Petaire]

Not that I know too much about this, but it does sounds more like an issue of your internal graphics card not properly being integrated into the system. Have you tried setting up your system without it (external graphics only), or do you require it? Either way, if it works without you know the culprit.

oh that's what I want, I want it to be headless, I want to fully use my RX580.

 

[Averett]

oh that's what I want, I want it to be headless, I want to fully use my RX580.

You may have to look elsewhere in the forum on how to achieve that, I wouldn't know. Good luck! But do keep us posted.

 

[cmn699]

Nope, it worked only for jpeg preview. But I'm pretty sure I've got an issue with my iGPU. I can see it in the system report (as "Intel Coffe Lake GT2") even though I've put everything in ig-platform-id. If someone wants to take a look at my config.plist...

I'm pretty sure it's related, because FCPX is staggering like hell for a simple 1080p footage. Even reading the footage is freaking slow.

• Uploading config.plist alone to diagnose a Graphics problem, forces the readers to guess the missing information like CLOVER/kexts/Other and BIOS Graphics related Options in BIOS_Peripherals and BIOS_Chipset. If we guess them as they should be rather than as they really are, the solution offered will be wrong too.
• To get better help, upload CLOVER from the system disk as a Zipped file along with Screen shots of BIOS_Peripherals and BIOS_Chipset [see sample images]
  • To get BIOS screen shots in Gigabyte, insert a FAT32 formatted USB flash disk in a working USB port [You can even use your macOS USB Installer disk which has FAT32 formatted EFI with ample free space. Only additional step you may need to view the image is to mount that hidden EFI in Mac/Hack]
  • Reboot >Del>BIOS
  • Open and bring to view Peripherals screen
  • Press F-12 key to get the USB Flash disk ready to Capture & Save the Screen in view
  • On screen prompt of OK , press ENTER.
  • Repeat this with all the required screen shots
• Open the USB disk with captured and saved images in a Mac/Hack Preview and find them as numbered BMP files
• Using Preview _Tools, edit if you like, and then click File> Export ...> File name :Unique and appropriate instead of default number Format: PNG or JPG and Save >Upload to Forum