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Terminal command Guru needed!

M

meta-ghost

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 9, 2002
230
0
San Francisco
Serious problem here, any help and i'd be grateful. been backing up multiple users onto dvd's from my (the admin account). i just installed panther and wiped my hard drive clean. trouble is, the other user documents may have not had the proper permissions setup for this and while they copied onto the dvd (and i can open each document from the disk) i can't copy them back to the hard drive.

i tried everything. disk utility, toast, holding the option key down, and more. the "get info" window only has "read only" option. my last thought is some sort of terminal commands. anybody?
 
that is weird.

umm....
from the terminal window, do like this:
df (to make sure that the volume is as I say)
it should say something like: /dev/disk1 <disk name> (whatever you named your dvd)
cd /Volumes/<diskname>
(note that if the name is Audio CD, for example, you can type Au*, and it will go to it, unix R smart)
or even easier..
sudo cp * ~/Desktop
enter admin password
that should force it to copy everything on the DVD to your desktop

or you can be more specific, and do other paths, or copy specific stuff, etc.

sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop will do all directories recursively

or

sudo cp -R * /Users

if you are just gonna cram it all into the users directory...
 
thanks dragula. i'm a bit of a terminal newbie. used it once or twice in the past. i tried your commands but no action happened (see below). ideally i'd like to take just one of the top most folders off the disk.

dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ sudo cp*~/desktop
sudo: cp*~/desktop: command not found
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ sudo cp* ~/Desktop
sudo: cp*: command not found
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ sudo cp -R ~/Desktop
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src target
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src1 ... srcN directory
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ sudo cp -R /Users
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src target
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src1 ... srcN directory
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$
 
Westside guy said:
It's all about spacing. You need to hit the spacebar on occasion. :D

sudo[space]cp[space]*[space]~/desktop
Click to expand...

ok, what am i missing? it asked for and took my password but still no action...

Last login: Tue May 25 22:06:02 on ttyp2
Welcome to Darwin!
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ sudo cp * ~/desktop
Password:
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$
 
unix

is case sensitive

so everything needs to be exact.

cd /Volumes/<disk name>
cp -R * ~/Desktop (upper case R, upper case D, etc)

you also didn't "df" to find out what your disk name was.
so it should go more like this, sorry for being not specific enough the first time..
open terminal
type:

df

look for the /dev/disk1 line. there should be a name after it (My DVD maybe?)

cd /Volumes/<disk name>

(remember upper case V, and you can type My* to get to "My DVD")

sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop

(upper case R, spaces, upper case D)
 
sorry guys but i'm not there yet... was trying to copy all to desktop. to icons appeared "Desktop DF" and "Desktop DB" which are "unix executable files" but are too small to represent all of the data. here is the terminal action:

Welcome to Darwin!
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ df
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s9 78157200 28318448 49326752 36% /
devfs 200 200 0 100% /dev
fdesc 2 2 0 100% /dev
<volfs> 1024 1024 0 100% /.vol
/dev/disk1s9 240098256 140156456 99941800 58% /Volumes/Films
automount -nsl [303] 0 0 0 100% /Network
automount -fstab [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/Servers
automount -static [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/static
/dev/disk2 8467180 8467180 0 100% /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ cd /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$ sudo cp * ~/Desktop
Password:
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$
 
cait-sith said:
~/desktop and ~/Desktop are different things.

type in the commands EXACTLY as they are shown to you.
Click to expand...

Actually on OS X this is incorrect - OS X is case-preserving but case-insensitive. If you don't believe me give it a try.

Tabbed autocomplete won't work if you don't capitalize correctly, but you can still traverse directories.
 
meta-ghost said:
say westside, if i do "sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop" will it put into and override any data in directories such as my library?
Click to expand...
It will overwrite anything with the same name on your desktop, but NOT in your library or other directories. I'd recommend creating a directory inside your desktop to hold the copy: "mkdir ~/Desktop/dvdcopy" then copying the contents of the DVD to it: "sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop/dvdcopy". That way, nothing gets overwritten.
 
wrldwzrd89 said:
It will overwrite anything with the same name on your desktop, but NOT in your library or other directories. I'd recommend creating a directory inside your desktop to hold the copy: "mkdir ~/Desktop/dvdcopy" then copying the contents of the DVD to it: "sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop/dvdcopy". That way, nothing gets overwritten.
Click to expand...

sorry mate, but nothing seems to be happening... i assume by "dvdcopy" you mean the name of the dvd (in my case GeneralDocBackup). i made the folder with the name "mkdir ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup". here is what was done in the terminal:

Welcome to Darwin!
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ df
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s9 78157200 28753520 48891680 37% /
devfs 200 200 0 100% /dev
fdesc 2 2 0 100% /dev
<volfs> 1024 1024 0 100% /.vol
/dev/disk1s9 240098256 140156552 99941704 58% /Volumes/Films
automount -nsl [303] 0 0 0 100% /Network
automount -fstab [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/Servers
automount -static [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/static
/dev/disk2 8467180 8467180 0 100% /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ cd /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$ sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup
Password:
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src target
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src1 ... srcN directory
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$
 
meta-ghost said:
sorry mate, but nothing seems to be happening... i assume by "dvdcopy" you mean the name of the dvd (in my case GeneralDocBackup). i made the folder with the name "mkdir ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup". here is what was done in the terminal:

Welcome to Darwin!
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ df
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s9 78157200 28753520 48891680 37% /
devfs 200 200 0 100% /dev
fdesc 2 2 0 100% /dev
<volfs> 1024 1024 0 100% /.vol
/dev/disk1s9 240098256 140156552 99941704 58% /Volumes/Films
automount -nsl [303] 0 0 0 100% /Network
automount -fstab [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/Servers
automount -static [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/static
/dev/disk2 8467180 8467180 0 100% /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ cd /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$ sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup
Password:
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src target
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src1 ... srcN directory
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$
Click to expand...
OK - I think I've figured out what's going on. The cp command is complaining that you're using invalid syntax. Here's what you wanted: "sudo cp -R /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup" (without the quotes, of course).
 
You shouldn't use the cp command at all!!

All files with resource forks will be damaged after they're copied with cp. You should really use CpMac, which is included with the developer tools.
 
ThomasW said:
You shouldn't use the cp command at all!!

All files with resource forks will be damaged after they're copied with cp. You should really use CpMac, which is included with the developer tools.
Click to expand...

i looks like your correct. as i write this message the documents are being copied with an error message and landing on my machine with 0 (zero)kb file size. i have "Developer Tools" version 10.1. is it difficult to use the CpMac?

terminal commands are as follows:

Last login: Wed May 26 08:13:09 on ttyp2
Welcome to Darwin!
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ df
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s9 78157200 28753520 48891680 37% /
devfs 200 200 0 100% /dev
fdesc 2 2 0 100% /dev
<volfs> 1024 1024 0 100% /.vol
/dev/disk1s9 240098256 140156552 99941704 58% /Volumes/Films
automount -nsl [303] 0 0 0 100% /Network
automount -fstab [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/Servers
automount -static [315] 0 0 0 100% /automount/static
/dev/disk2 8467180 8467180 0 100% /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:~ eskiba$ cd /Volumes/GeneralDocBackup
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$ sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop/GeneralDocBackup
Password:
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src target
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-pv] src1 ... srcN directory
dsl081-070-009:/Volumes/GeneralDocBackup eskiba$ sudo cp -R * ~/Desktop
Password:
cp: Quicken Essentials/Backup Folder/6Quicken Data: Input/output error
cp: Quicken Essentials/Backup Folder/1Quicken Data: Input/output error
cp: Quicken Essentials/Backup Folder/21Quicken Data: Input/output error
cp: Quicken Essentials/Backup Folder/2Quicken Data: Input/output error
cp: Quicken Essentials/Backup Folder/31Quicken Data: Input/output error
 
ThomasW said:
You shouldn't use the cp command at all!!

All files with resource forks will be damaged after they're copied with cp. You should really use CpMac, which is included with the developer tools.
Click to expand...
No, use the ditto command instead with the -rsrcFork switch. That doesn't require the developer tools and will do the same thing.
 
GiantsFan said:
uh, does anyone know how to change the default of " ls " ? when i type in " alias ls " it shows that is " ls -f ". i dont want the " -f ", just " ls ".
Click to expand...

The short answer is to type "unalias ls". To make the change more permanent you have to edit a shell startup script. First figure out which shell you're using (bash or csh) by typing "echo $SHELL". Then, edit the appropriate files in either your home directory or in /etc (assuming you have administrator privileges). Bash uses [.]bashrc and [.bash_]profile, while csh uses [csh].cshrc and csh.login.

For more (just as confusing) information on bash, csh, or ls, consult the man pages (e.g., "man bash").
 
btw, anybody know how to stop this copying (which is a bit slow) happening through the terminal as i write this. end, quit, stop and logout haven't worked. (i know, i know i shouldn't be using the terminal...)
 
wrldwzrd89 said:
No, use the ditto command instead with the -rsrcFork switch. That doesn't require the developer tools and will do the same thing.
Click to expand...

sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly do you mean? are the files being copied still usable?
 
meta-ghost said:
btw, anybody know how to stop this copying (which is a bit slow) happening through the terminal as i write this. end, quit, stop and logout haven't worked. (i know, i know i shouldn't be using the terminal...)
Click to expand...
open a new terminal window and type "killall cp". Alternatively, you can open a new terminal window, type "top", make a note of the PID of the active "cp" process (the one using CPU time), quit top by pressing q, then type "kill -9 [PID]" where [PID] is the PID you noted earlier. That should stop it.
 
meta-ghost said:
sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly do you mean? are the files being copied still usable?
Click to expand...
ditto is like cp, but it has the ability to preserve resource forks with the -rsrcFork switch. It can be used even if the developer tools aren't installed; it's the command line utility Carbon Copy Cloner uses to duplicate disks. As far as usability goes, all your files will remain intact when copied with ditto, even if they had resource forks.
 
meta-ghost said:
btw, anybody know how to stop this copying (which is a bit slow) happening through the terminal as i write this. end, quit, stop and logout haven't worked. (i know, i know i shouldn't be using the terminal...)
Click to expand...

usually control-c cancels whatever you have executed in the terminal.
 
OK... I'm a little surprised at all this feedback and no good answers.

If you have read access to everything, this isn't a hard problem to fix.

First, make sure the disc is mounted.
Next, make a "Junk" folder on your desktop.

now open a terminal. type these commands:
sudo bash (will log you in as root)
cp -R /Volumes/DVDName/* ~/Desktop/Junk

now it's time to fix the permissions. type these:
chown -R [yourusername] ~/Desktop/Junk/* (makes you the owner)
chmod -R +rw ~/Desktop/Junk/* (gives you read and write permission).

There you go.
 
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