100% cpu on launch, app freezes before gui displays

[bitflung]

hi all - i've got a problem resultig in textwrangler not running on my
machine. i've tried searching but haven't had any luck, i'm wondering
if anyone else has had this issue, or if anyone can suggest another
approach to resolving it.

1. history:
- TextWrangler was working perfectly fine for a long time
- one day, it stopped working at all. that was several months ago.
i've tried to make-due wihout it... but alas i miss it
- i'm a computer engineer. i'm an architect for a custom designed
cpu, peripherals and firmware. i fixed my 'narcoleptic' mac by
removing the failed sensor and soldering in a replacement. what i'm
trying to say here is, "feel free to respond with technical details",
as well as, "this is not a simple user error, something has gone
awry".
- i'm interested in responses from ANYONE else experiencing this, not
just those who think i've got a solution (though i welcome that with
great appreciation).

2. the problems:
- on launch, the icon appears on my dock with a triangle indicating it
is running
- the menu bar switches to TextWrangler's menu bar
- that's where the good stuff ends (not much, eh?) the rest is bad
- the menu bar is unresponsive (pinwheel)
- textwrangler pegs the cpu to 100%
- the gui never loads
- given considerable time, the situation never changes (left over
night, nothing different next day)

3. attempted resolutions:
- erased textwrangler
- using AppTrap, allowed all detected associated files to be erased as
well
- spotlight search for 'barebones' and 'textwrangler' - removed all
files/folders found (plists, etc in /Library... and ~/Library...)
- reboot (i was once a windows user, yes, so i rebooted why not?)
- downloaded latest and greatest, drag to /Applications, double click
- experience de'ja'vu (problem persisted with identical observations)

4. how to reproduce? i have no idea. perhaps (though unlikely) my
usage habits will reveal a potential source for this problem? (see
below)

5. platform specifics:
- PowerBook G4, 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM
- no other notable anomalies with my system, aside from my Perl
modules being out-of-whack because i once tried to setup bugzilla
locally (does TextWrangler rely on Perl? i doubt it, but maybe this
is the issue?)

6. usage habits that may have led to the situation
- i keep (kept) an alias to TextWrangler on my Finder windows (not
sure how to state this more clearly)
- I've been opening very large files via drag-and-drop to the finder
shortcut (~100MB plain text)
- sometimes i open these files across the network (SSHFS to a linux
box hosting the files)
- SSHFS isn't perfect, occasionally the network drive mapping would
fail, leaving TextWrangler in the process of opening data from a non-
existent network resource, i don't recall how textwrangler responded
to this but i never perceived it to be a permanent failure

so... anyone have any thoughts?
much obliged for your time,
-bit

[Tom Robinson]

On 2008-09-26, at 05:31, bitflung wrote:

> 2. the problems:
> - on launch, the icon appears on my dock with a triangle indicating it
> is running
> - the menu bar switches to TextWrangler's menu bar
> - that's where the good stuff ends (not much, eh?) the rest is bad
> - the menu bar is unresponsive (pinwheel)
> - textwrangler pegs the cpu to 100%

Try creating another account on your machine and running it from there.

Try disabling (I recommend removing) any haxies from Unsanity.

[Steve Kalkwarf]

On Sep 25, 2008, at 1:31 PM, bitflung wrote:

>
> hi all - i've got a problem resultig in textwrangler not running on my
> machine. i've tried searching but haven't had any luck, i'm wondering
> if anyone else has had this issue, or if anyone can suggest another
> approach to resolving it.

Two suggestions:

One: Believe it or not, we offer technical support for TextWrangler.
You could write in and ask for help.

Two: After attempting to launch TextWrangler, see if you can get a
sample of its activity:

open Activity Monitor;
Select TextWrangler in the process list;
Type Command-Option-S;
Post the results here.

Beyond that, simple troubleshooting techniques always apply:

What did you change between the last time it launched, and the first
time it did not?

Did you install new software?

Update existing software?

What happens if you create a new user account, and try launching
logged in as that user?

Steve

[Jared Eldredge]

@Steve Kalkwarf, Tom Robinson
thank you both for your quick replies - and my apologies for not
returning the favor.

Tom: you're suggestion of running text wrangler in a new account
proved the problem was specific to my account

Steve: prior to requesting anyone to look through a sample of
textwrangler's activity, i wanted to follow through with the new info
learned from Tom's advice.

the result: software for providing 'scroll' support for my fancy
bluetooth mouse caused the problem. i know the software used to play
nicely with text wrangler - and i am working under the assumption the
software performed an auto-update (as it is configured to do so),
introducing an incompatibility.

thank you both for your time, and know that the problem is now fixed.
-jared

Jared Eldredge
System Architect, BlueRISC, Inc.
Phone: +1 (413) 549 - 0599