I found a strange bug in various Win 32 builds of 2.5 where most transform and mirror tools stop working except Grab/Move, but only in object mode. All the same tools work perfectly in edit mode. This occurs in the Alpha 0 build and DingTo's SVN 25689 and 25797 builds from graphicall.org, so I don't think it's a problem with the specific build.

Whenever I use something like the rotate tool, the interface shows all the indications of the tool working (the status bar also shows the amount rotated), but the object does not rotate. Editing the rotation values in the properties pane works just fine though.

I have not been able to reproduce the error or figure out what causes it, but whatever the problem is, it is saved with the .blend file. Whenever I reload the .blend file where I had the problem, all my transform tools stop working. If I load a different file, they all work again.

I've been saving multiple versions of my project, so I have a version from before and after the problem started.
before: http://chaosinacan.x10hosting.com/media/other/mech7.blend
after: http://chaosinacan.x10hosting.com/media/other/mech8.blend

If you load the second file, can you rotate/scale objects in object mode? Any ideas as to what's happenning and how to fix it?

I've got this exact same problem right now, only on the 64-bit version of Blender 2.63a for Mac OS X 10.6+

Any ideas? Is this a glitch, or did I just accidentally press the wrong button or something?

For reference, here's the .blend file before and after the glitch:

Before - http://www.mediafire.com/?76taqm111coiwoo
After - http://www.mediafire.com/?6l5ynrro6gvnv1c

Same here, using Blender 2.63a on 64-bit Windows 7.

I also have some old files where it does work, but it no longer works in my more recent files.

Any help highly appreciated!

g

I had this same problem. Found the solution.

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?76537-blender-will-not-rotate

Next to pivot center is the button "Manipulate Center Points." Uncheck this button, and you'll be able to manipulate the objects themselves again.

doh!

yep, that works.
thanks a lot, Pointystick!