Yes. It's the command line verison of what GUIfied apps dowhen they show/hide everything in the Finder.
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Hard Drive does not appear in Finder / Desktop
- Thread starter smwatson
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I input that, it appears in Desktop but not in Sidebar. Now how do i turn that off because now i have all these random files everywhere 
smwatson said:
Reverse what you did.
Code:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles [B]FALSE[/B]
killall FinderSo, the Finder thinks it's invisible.
Before I suggest further (using SetFile from XCode Tools), I need to test and see if it's actually possible to do what I was going to suggest.
Before we get into that.. out of curiosity, try this (in Terminal.app):
And let us know what the output is.
I know all this is pretty convoluted, but we'e trying to avoid a reinstall. And this issue appears to be popping up more and more.
Unfortunately, we're hurtling towards a reinstall.
Code:
cd ~/Library/Preferences
defaults read com.apple.finder | grep ShowHardDrivesOnDesktopAnd let us know what the output is.
I know all this is pretty convoluted, but we'e trying to avoid a reinstall. And this issue appears to be popping up more and more.
Unfortunately, we're hurtling towards a reinstall.
Inputted that code; nothing.
If i reinstall will i lose files? Because i have some stuff that isnt backed up at the moment. i.e. my entire documents/photos folders (my external gave up a few weeks ago, will use my iPod for now)
If i reinstall will i lose files? Because i have some stuff that isnt backed up at the moment. i.e. my entire documents/photos folders (my external gave up a few weeks ago, will use my iPod for now)
smwatson said:Inputted that code; nothing.
That's odd..
Next Step:
Code:
defaults write com.apple.finder.plist ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop 1Then logout and log back in. Does your HD show up on the Desktop?
Ok to make it appear in the sidebar, click and drag it over the sidebar from your desktop (while hidden files are enabled), I think you accidently changed the permissions of your HD, to change it back, type in Terminal
'cd /Volumes/' (without single quotations) then Enter then
'chmod 755 "Macintosh HD"' (without single but with double quotations) where Macintosh HD is replaced by the name of your hard drive.
'cd /Volumes/' (without single quotations) then Enter then
'chmod 755 "Macintosh HD"' (without single but with double quotations) where Macintosh HD is replaced by the name of your hard drive.
yellow said:
Hard Drive doesnt appear from that code either.
Eraserhead said:
Cant make it appear in Sidebar like that, it wont let me drag & drop.
Also, that second code results in:
"Cannot recognise "chmod", User does not have sufficent permission"
(words to that affect)
smwatson said:
Damn, to do it my way you'll need to enable the root account on your Mac, have you tried repairing permissions yet?
see
http://www.spy-hill.com/~myers/help/apple/EnableRoot.html for how to enable the root account, set a good password for this and disable root again when you have finished.
Eraserhead said:
nooooo... There's no need for enabling root.
you need to use sudo. That's it's purpose.
Before you do that, however, it's HIGHLY unlikely that the permissions are wrong on the root of the drive. There would be far more problems than missing icons. Besides, a Permission Repair would fix any perms problems on the root of the drive. So I'd suggest not trying to do that again.
So.. attempting to change the ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop key didn't work eh? It was a longshot. Can you please post the outcome of this once again, so we can see if it was actually written to the plist?
Code:
cd ~/Library/Preferences
defaults read com.apple.finder | grep ShowHardDrivesOnDesktopBeyond THAT.. we're getting down to the nitty gritty. Again, I need to test and see if SetFile will invis/uninvis an HD.
After that (assuming it doesn't work), I'm out of ideas and I guess it'd be up to a reinstall.
I'll get back to you.
yellow said:
OK, soo.. using SetFile to make the root drive invis DID **** up the Finder.
Now it doesn't show the HD on the Desktop, even though it's checked in the Finder prefs, and that is confirmed in the com.apple.finder.plist as being visible (ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop=1, aka TRUE). Which would totally jive with your problems trying to use the Finder prefs and it having no effect at all.
/Developer/Tools/GetFileInfo on / shows that the drive is currently set to "V" (invisible), as opposed to "v" (visible). Setting it back to "v" worked!!
Hopefully this will take care of your problem:
You need to install XCode Tools. Either from the installer DVD, or downloaded from http://developer.apple.com. A basic install should do just fine. After installation..
Let's check and see what it's attirbs are:
Open Terminal.app, type:
cd /Developer/Tools
./GetFileInfo /
The output should have something like this in it:
Code:
attributes: a[B][COLOR="Red"]V[/COLOR][/B]bstClinmedzDoes yours have a capital V or lowercase v?
If it's a capital V, then continue, type:
./SetFile -a v /
Now logout and log back in. Is your HD back on your Desktop?
It should be!
<crossed fingers> (damn I hope this works)
EDIT: Fixed a spelling mistake in /Developer/
yellow said:
forgive my ignorance but what is sudo? what does it mean? (I suppose this means I shouldn't be trying to answer the question
)
yellow said:
Are you sure that is the right code to get attributes because it doesnt recognise it
smwatson said:
I sure am.. syntax is important, note there's a space between GetFileInfo and the trailing /. And you're in the /Developer/Tools/ directory, right?
EDIT: I see the problem.. spelling error in my last post. I added an "s" to /Developer. Corrected below.
Code:
cd /Developer/Tools/
./GetFileInfo /
Code:
yellow% ./GetFileInfo /
directory: "/"
attributes: avbstClinmedz
created: 10/06/2003 18:36:50
modified: 06/20/2006 14:59:48I (think) entered it correctly, and got the following output:
Code:
Usage: /Developer/Tools/GetFileInfo [-a[<attrib_letter>] | -t | -c | -m ] <path>If you got that, you didn't enter it correctly. It is:
./GetFileInfo<space>/<return>
Where <space> refers to a space, and <return> refers to hitting return.
./GetFileInfo<space>/<return>
Where <space> refers to a space, and <return> refers to hitting return.
smwatson said:It worked perfectly
Thanks so much
Same from me.
I don't know how this problem occurred but it has been bugging me for hours today. Your Developer Tools tip worked perfectly.
Thanks yellow
Edit***
LOL, and now I have the same issue with the first partition on my external firewire disk.
Any idea how to set the visibility status for that please?
Edit 2***
Never mind. Disk Utility was able to fix it somehow.
smwatson said:It worked perfectly
Thanks so much
Well, I'm glad we got there. Sorry it took so long, but I hate reinstalls if there is a viable, easier, better alternative.
I'm curious how your HD got set to be invis, but glad it worked!
Leapord sucks.
This happened to me as well, I narrowed it down to one of two things:
1. Changing the permissions of Macintosh HD.
2. Using Parallels in shared mode.
I tried everything above and it didn't fix the problem.
This happened to me as well, I narrowed it down to one of two things:
1. Changing the permissions of Macintosh HD.
2. Using Parallels in shared mode.
I tried everything above and it didn't fix the problem.
Quick Fix
Using FileBuddy from macupdate.com
1. Enable administrator privileges
2. File -> Get Info -> Choose -> Macintosh HD (default selection)
3. Uncheck the box on the left which should be ticked as invisible
This mounts the Macintosh HD on the desktop again, but I still can't get it back on the sidebar.
There are problems with the new front row as well so I'm going back to tiger until the bugs are fixed.
Using FileBuddy from macupdate.com
1. Enable administrator privileges
2. File -> Get Info -> Choose -> Macintosh HD (default selection)
3. Uncheck the box on the left which should be ticked as invisible
This mounts the Macintosh HD on the desktop again, but I still can't get it back on the sidebar.
There are problems with the new front row as well so I'm going back to tiger until the bugs are fixed.
Complete Fix
After you have followed the instructions above using filebuddy, do a finder search for a file named "com.apple.sidebarlists.plist" (you will need to activate the search to include hidden system files, delete this file and reboot your computer.
After you have followed the instructions above using filebuddy, do a finder search for a file named "com.apple.sidebarlists.plist" (you will need to activate the search to include hidden system files, delete this file and reboot your computer.