Can't delete plist file in El Cap (can in Yosemite)

[ElCani]

I have a 2010 Macbook Air with a hardware (temp sensor) problem. In order to make it usable, I deleted a plist file using the following process (found on the web):

1) Open System Information (under Apple icon in upper-left, click About This Mac, click More Info)
2) Click System Report button, under Hardware, find your "Model Identifier" -remember this for later use
3) Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions an right-click, Show Package Contents of IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext
4) Open Contents/PlugIns and Show Package Contents of ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext
5) Open Contents/Resources
6) Find your MacBookAir?_?.plist (? = your model identifier from step 2) and delete the file
7) Reboot! Remember, anytime you do a System Update, you may need to repeat this process"

Since doing that it has been running ok (first on Mavericks, then Yosemite).

However, when I installed the El Cap public beta I found I could not delete the file, because it is 'locked'. I have tried to unlock it via 'Get Info' but the relevant tick boxes are greyed out and I cannot change the permissions. Option clicking and dragging to the trash doesn't work, nor does using the Terminal commands I read about online. Basically the system won't let me do anything to the file!

I've re-installed Yosemite and have no problems deleting the file. To illustrate the difference doing this makes, the MBA has a single core Geekbench 3 score of around 1000 with Yosemite (with the plist file deleted) and around 200 with El Cap (with the plist in place).

Any ideas?

 

[w0lf]

Disable SIP

/System/Library/CoreServices/Security Configuration.app

 

[dyn]

No, disable rootless. You are trying to change the contents of one of the kernel extensions. Rootless has been implemented to prevent such operations.

 

[ElCani]

No, disable rootless. You are trying to change the contents of one of the kernel extensions. Rootless has been implemented to prevent such operations.

Thanks for your reply - from what I've just read disabling SIP (via booting into Recovery Mode) disables rootless. Should I do that, or disable rootless via "sudo nvram boot-args="rootless=0";sudo reboot"?

 

[dyn]

In that case you can do either as long as you disable rootless.

 

[ElCani]

In that case you can do either as long as you disable rootless.

Cool - can I re-enable rootless after deleting the plist? What would the Terminal command be? I'm not that familiar with using Terminal, although I'm happy to experiment (this is not my main Mac).

 

[dyn]

Yes, it's what most people do (disable, make the change, re-enable).

 

[w0lf]

Literally just open the app I posted and disable it, then re-enable it when you're done.

No, disable rootless. You are trying to change the contents of one of the kernel extensions. Rootless has been implemented to prevent such operations.

Love it when people reply and they don't read the post above them and/or don't know what they're talking about.

"rootless" is SIP (System Integrity Protection).

The Security Configuration app is what disables/enables the rootless nvram argument and not the boot-arg rootless which is not going to be around forever. Might as well use the proper app instead of a terminal command.

 

[dyn]

Love it when people reply and don't watch nor read Apple's own stuff where they speak of rootless and SIP...

 

[ElCani]

Thanks, I just tried using the app but got the following error message: "The operation couldn’t be completed. (Mach error -536870212 - (iokit/common) general error)".

So, I used Terminal and have deleted the plist. But if someone could give me the Terminal command to turn rootless back on, that would be great.

Thanks again.

 

[redheeler]

Thanks, I just tried using the app but got the following error message: "The operation couldn’t be completed. (Mach error -536870212 - (iokit/common) general error)".

So, I used Terminal and have deleted the plist. But if someone could give me the Terminal command to turn rootless back on, that would be great.

Thanks again.

You can do it booted in Recovery. Click "Utilities" in the menu bar and "Security Configuration".

 

[ElCani]

You can do it booted in Recovery. Click "Utilities" in the menu bar and "System Configuration".

Great, just done that. Thanks all!

 

[ArJe]

Helped me!

 

[ladylazarus]

So, I also need to delete this file. But with the GM of El Cap, even with rootless disabled, I can't delete the plist file. Can someone help?

 

[KALLT]

So, I also need to delete this file. But with the GM of El Cap, even with rootless disabled, I can't delete the plist file. Can someone help?

What happens when you try it?

 

[ladylazarus]

What happens when you try it?

The same thing that happens with the rootless on. I get this message: “MacBookPro8_1.plist” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X.

I was thinking that somehow the rootless wasn't being disabled, but terminal show it is (kext-dev-mode=1 rootless=0). I don't know if I'm doing something wrong?

 

[w0lf]

The same thing that happens with the rootless on. I get this message: “MacBookPro8_1.plist” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X.

I was thinking that somehow the rootless wasn't being disabled, but terminal show it is (kext-dev-mode=1 rootless=0). I don't know if I'm doing something wrong?

Everything in this thread is old and no longer the working method.

Follow this guide: http://www.macbartender.com/system-item-setup/

 

[ladylazarus]

Everything in this thread is old and no longer the working method.

Follow this guide: http://www.macbartender.com/system-item-setup/

Thank you, that worked!

 

[Jorge Tamayo]

I have a 2010 Macbook Air with a hardware (temp sensor) problem. In order to make it usable, I deleted a plist file using the following process (found on the web):

1) Open System Information (under Apple icon in upper-left, click About This Mac, click More Info)
2) Click System Report button, under Hardware, find your "Model Identifier" -remember this for later use
3) Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions an right-click, Show Package Contents of IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext
4) Open Contents/PlugIns and Show Package Contents of ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext
5) Open Contents/Resources
6) Find your MacBookAir?_?.plist (? = your model identifier from step 2) and delete the file
7) Reboot! Remember, anytime you do a System Update, you may need to repeat this process"

Since doing that it has been running ok (first on Mavericks, then Yosemite).

However, when I installed the El Cap public beta I found I could not delete the file, because it is 'locked'. I have tried to unlock it via 'Get Info' but the relevant tick boxes are greyed out and I cannot change the permissions. Option clicking and dragging to the trash doesn't work, nor does using the Terminal commands I read about online. Basically the system won't let me do anything to the file!

I've re-installed Yosemite and have no problems deleting the file. To illustrate the difference doing this makes, the MBA has a single core Geekbench 3 score of around 1000 with Yosemite (with the plist file deleted) and around 200 with El Cap (with the plist in place).

Any ideas?

 

[Christoffee]

Everything in this thread is old and no longer the working method.

Follow this guide: http://www.macbartender.com/system-item-setup/

Thank you for taking the time to post this. It helped me.