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Usually hidden system folders like cores/sbin/usr/var/private/etc showing in finder

N

ncdasa

macrumors member
Original poster
May 11, 2009
81
0
Recently i noticed that some of the Leopard OS system folders that are supposed to remain hidden i.e cores/sbin/usr/var/private/tmp/etc have shown up in the finder in the local HD.

I cant remember when it started but recently i have reinstalled Leopard and installed Parallels. Maybe these things are unrelated but i thought i would mention it.


If anyone knows whats up and how to hide them again please let me know.
:apple:
 
Copy and paste this into terminal.


defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder
 
thanks for the suggestions, but unfortunately neither worked for me. I just saw the other day my friend had the same thing in his mac and he didnt notice it either until i asked him how to fix mine. Anyway I imagine that this problem may have happened to a few people so hopefully there is a few more suggestions and feedback that can be posted about this.

It doesnt really effect the overall performance in anyway, its just hectic to look at. And also i guess it is not so safe to have all those system files exposed out in the open for someone who doesnt know what they are doing to accidentally fiddle with.

Previously I foolishly deleted a strange folder i had never seen before named 'usr' from the finder and the whole system immediately committed suicide!!! :D
I had to reinstall Leopard through target mode etc. I know it was a stupid mistake but it just goes to show my level of computer knowledge.
 
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false; killall Finder


Paste that entire line in terminal. They SHOULD disappear.
 
i dont know whats wrong but it still isnt working for me. It seems simple, just paste in the terminal and press enter , but i still have the problem. Anyway i guess i will just leave the files alone an ignore them, for the time being at least. Its not a big deal.

Thanks anyway for all the suggestions, you can keep em coming though if there are anymore .
 
The exact thing happened to me today - after re-installing my Time Machine backup, the hidden "private" folder is visible. The mentioned Terminal lines don't work. Any other idea to make this folder hidden again??
 
Try it:

Code: 
sudo defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false; killall Finder

It will ask for your password, type it and press return.



OR



sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /bin
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /cores
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -P -a V /etc
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /mach_kernel
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /private
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /sbin
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -P -a V /tmp
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /usr
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V /Volumes
sudo /Developer/Tools/SetFile -P -a V /var
Click to expand...
then delete /Library/Caches/com.apple.LaunchServices* (2 files) and reboot.

Make sure you have Developer tools installed. If not, you can download it from Apple or install it from your Mac OS X Leopard disk.


OR


re-install Leopard again, it will overwrite the files and the issue may disappear.


There's also some other options, if you these don't work.
 
Thanks wowzera,

That 2nd one worked!!

I had to install the Xcode Tools package from my Leopard installer disk because the individual Developer Tools installer wasnt working. So i ended up having to use more disk space then essentially necessary but I am wondering about all the other applications that come along in the Xcode Tools package, how do I find out what these programs do and if they may also be useful to me?
 
I've noticed this problem after re-installing Leopard. Did your machine fall asleep after the install process completed? Meaning, did you have to wake up your machine before you rebooted after the install?
 
ncdasa said:
Thanks wowzera,

That 2nd one worked!!

I had to install the Xcode Tools package from my Leopard installer disk because the individual Developer Tools installer wasnt working. So i ended up having to use more disk space then essentially necessary but I am wondering about all the other applications that come along in the Xcode Tools package, how do I find out what these programs do and if they may also be useful to me?
Click to expand...

Well, if you do not develop, then most of them are not useful. I only use Icon Composer and SetFile.
 
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