[philm]

On of my Macs running 10.2.6 seems to have a corrupt com.apple.finder.plist file (I assume). There are various ways I could go about deleting this, but I thought I could boot into UNIX (using command-S at startup) and delete the file that way.

It seems, though, that I cannot login as an administrator this way if I try 'login' at the command line. Is this because I have entered 'single-user' mode? Can I boot into UNIX but not in single-user mode? I don't think I have read how to do this anywhere.

I guess there are other ways around my problem, but I would like to know a bit more about booting directly into UNIX and doing something other than fsck.

Cheers,

Phil

[Robo-X]

I think you have to mount the disk first using the command that says when booted in single user mode.

//Rob

[WJMoore]

Originally posted by Robo-X:
I think you have to mount the disk first using the command that says when booted in single user mode.

//Rob

Yes I don't think it is mounted by default in single user mode. Why not just boot normally and delete it: sudo rm file? Then logout and back in again.

[philm]

Originally posted by WJMoore:
Why not just boot normally and delete it: sudo rm file? Then logout and back in again.

Do you mean - boot normally and then launch Terminal? I can't do that because the Finder app seems corrupted and I cannot launch any applications (including Terminal).

[VEGAN]

Originally posted by philm:
On of my Macs running 10.2.6 seems to have a corrupt com.apple.finder.plist file (I assume). There are various ways I could go about deleting this, but I thought I could boot into UNIX (using command-S at startup) and delete the file that way.

It seems, though, that I cannot login as an administrator this way if I try 'login' at the command line. Is this because I have entered 'single-user' mode? Can I boot into UNIX but not in single-user mode? I don't think I have read how to do this anywhere.

I guess there are other ways around my problem, but I would like to know a bit more about booting directly into UNIX and doing something other than fsck.

Cheers,

Phil

Can you login as >console ???

[philzilla]

boot the machine as you've tried, mount the drive like it says, nav to the file, so you can see the right one, then trash it? have you tried that?

or

login from another machine, via ssh, and kill it that way

[VEGAN]

Originally posted by philzilla:
boot the machine as you've tried, mount the drive like it says, nav to the file, so you can see the right one, then trash it? have you tried that?

or

login from another machine, via ssh, and kill it that way

How is he supposed to "navigate" there? He said Finder doesn't work, didn't he?

[Arkham_c]

Boot normally.

Then, on the login screen, login as >console. To do that, go to the login screen.

1) Press the down arrow to select one user in the list.

2) Hold the option key, and press return.

The login panel magically transforms from the "List of Users" to the "Name/Password" dialog.

Log in there as ">console". You will get a console login prompt. You can login with your short username and password.

Then do "cd Library/Preferences && rm com.apple.finder.plist"

Voila. Type "logout" or "exit" or hit control-D and you'll go back the the GUI login screen.

[smeger]

Boot using cmd-s to enter single-user mode

Code:
fsck -y
(repeat until it reports no errors)
mount -uw /
rm /Users/<your short user name>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
exit

If 'rm' doesn't work, try 'rm -f' or 'sudo rm -f'.

[philzilla]

Originally posted by VEGAN:
How is he supposed to "navigate" there? He said Finder doesn't work, didn't he?

single user mode? command line? hello?

basically, i meant what smeger has just posted. he said he'd booted into SU mode, and i didn't mention using Finder

[Macpilot]

Why not just Command-f in the finder, find the file, and Trash it?

[CharlesS]

What the hell? So much confusion in this thread, about something relatively simple?

Steps to delete the file using Single User Mode (actually, let's rename the file in case the pref file isn't really the problem):

1. Boot with Command and S down until you get to the prompt.

2. fsck

3. mount -uw /

4. cd /Users/<admin's username>/Library/Preferences

5. mv com.apple.finder.plist com.apple.finder.plist.bak

6. reboot

voila.

[Geobunny]

Originally posted by smeger:
Boot using cmd-s to enter single-user mode

Code:
fsck -y
(repeat until it reports no errors)
mount -uw /
rm /Users/<your short user name>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
exit

If 'rm' doesn't work, try 'rm -f' or 'sudo rm -f'.

Oh dear God, please do NOT do this. If you screw up that command (more specifically the alternatives) you'll wipe your entire computer including any drives you have mounted.

You must cd /Users/<user name>/Library/Preferences and hit return before executing the "rm" command.

[smeger]

arkham_c, that's a cool trick for the login panel. thanks!

Geobunny, thanks for the catch. You shouldn't need to use rm -r or sudo rm -f from within single-user mode, but you're absolutely correct, those commands are very dangerous and you should 'cd' to the proper directory before using 'em to minimize the damage that a typo could cause.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by smeger:
arkham_c, that's a cool trick for the login panel. thanks!

Geobunny, thanks for the catch. You shouldn't need to use rm -r or sudo rm -f from within single-user mode, but you're absolutely correct, those commands are very dangerous and you should 'cd' to the proper directory before using 'em to minimize the damage that a typo could cause.

In this case, rm is not necessary at all. Just use mv to rename the file. If it doesn't have its standard name, the Finder won't see it as its preference file, and will create a new one. Same effect as deleting the pref file, except that if the prefs file isn't the problem, you can put the original file and not have to redo your settings.

Seriously, the instructions I posted above tell exactly what you need to do.

[WJMoore]

Originally posted by Macpilot:
Why not just Command-f in the finder, find the file, and Trash it?

coz the Finder ain't workin'!

[philm]

Thanks for everyone's help with this. I mounted the drive as suggested (I had not noticed that you are told how to do this when you boot up in single-user mode!) and deleted the .plist file.

Cheers to all! Phil