Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

autorun on Mac

hehe299792458

hehe299792458

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Is there a way to configure a disk image such that every time I mount it, a file contained within the disk image automatically opens?
 
MisterMe said:
Autorun of executables on removable storage is a huge security risk. You cannot do that on a Mac.
Click to expand...

I agree that it can be a security risk.
But firstly, it's not removable storage - it's an image file I created. And secondly, it's not an executable. It's a html document that I created.
 
Autorun is part of a bad nightmare I remember from my windows days along with "hide extensions." I might not be the typical switcher who is looking for Windows-like things on OS X because I used Linux before OS X and one of my favorite things is I could click on stuff I wanted to happen and stuff I didn't click on never ever happened. What a concept.

The reason Apple has disabled this is security. They don't want malware, adware or crippleware launching when you insert a CD. I seem to remember there were DRM programs Sony used to include on music CDs that would install and run before you knew what was going on. Whether it's some greedy company trying to stop you from listening to stuff you bought unless you pay for it over again or some hacker trying to steal your logon Apple wants no part of that nonsense and I don't blame them one bit. The itsy bitsy down side is you gotta click to run something. Now where'd I put my violin?

th_worlds-smallest-violin.jpg


BTW, while I agree that running something you created from a dmg, memory stick or even a cd would be nice, html can include malware these days and I don't mind the situation we are in. Suppose there was a big switch you could throw to enable autorun. You get your project done and forget about it. About 3 years later, a friend comes over, inserts some CD in your Mac and it installs something you don't want or need before you realize it.

There is only a handful of malware out for OS X, but one in particular relies on a user to be logged in as Admin and running Safari. Malware gets downloaded and installed if the user has left "automatically open safe files" enabled. And wouldn't you know a dmg is considered a safe file, even if you just downloaded it from hackerz.gunning.4.u 😱
 
Last edited:
r0k said:
Autorun is part of a bad nightmare I remember from my windows days along with "hide extensions." I might not be the typical switcher who is looking for Windows-like things on OS X because I used Linux before OS X and one of my favorite things is I could click on stuff I wanted to happen and stuff I didn't click on never ever happened. What a concept.

The reason Apple has disabled this is security. They don't want malware, adware or crippleware launching when you insert a CD. I seem to remember there were DRM programs Sony used to include on music CDs that would install and run before you knew what was going on. Whether it's some greedy company trying to stop you from listening to stuff you bought unless you pay for it over again or some hacker trying to steal your logon Apple wants no part of that nonsense and I don't blame them one bit. The itsy bitsy down side is you gotta click to run something. Now where'd I put my violin?

Image

BTW, while I agree that running something you created from a dmg, memory stick or even a cd would be nice, html can include malware these days and I don't mind the situation we are in. Suppose there was a big switch you could throw to enable autorun. You get your project done and forget about it. About 3 years later, a friend comes over, inserts some CD in your Mac and it installs something you don't want or need before you realize it.

There is only a handful of malware out for OS X, but one in particular relies on a user to be logged in as Admin and running Safari. Malware gets downloaded and installed if the user has left "automatically open safe files" enabled. And wouldn't you know a dmg is considered a safe file, even if you just downloaded it from hackerz.gunning.4.u 😱
Click to expand...

Thanks for that really detailed explanation. Macs' lack of an autorun feature is a really good security precaution. But is there a way to bypass it?

I know it's a security risk, but for this one disk, I think I'm pretty safe. Trust me when I say the files on the disk image are 100% safe and created entirely by me. Is there a workaround to the autorun thing? Perhaps some sort of automator script?
 
hehe299792458 said:
Thanks for that really detailed explanation. Macs' lack of an autorun feature is a really good security precaution. But is there a way to bypass it?

I know it's a security risk, but for this one disk, I think I'm pretty safe. Trust me when I say the files on the disk image are 100% safe and created entirely by me. Is there a workaround to the autorun thing? Perhaps some sort of automator script?
Click to expand...

The workaround that would let you do this also allows malware in. Hence no workaround.

Even with automator, you have to run the script which is double-clicking something.

What is the HTML? Is it a license or similar? If so, DMGs support displaying a license that must be accepted in order to open it.
 
If it's just one particular image you're looking to mount then an applescript to mount and open the file may be a solution.
 
As others stated there isn't a way and it would be a security problem regardless of the fact that most of the time you'll be running a safe app.
 
Autorun

I don't think this fits exactly into what this thread is talking about, but I've been trying to run a cd in my mac. Every time i put it in it spins, clicks, and spits it out. About three months ago I had the same problem and I found an autorun hotkey and it worked every time I used it! now I can't find it anywhere and no one seems to know about it!? 😕

help please!
 
Jolly Jimmy said:
Dead easy.

Code: 
tell application "Finder"
	open item "Path:to:disk:image"
	delay 1
	open item "Path:to:file:in:image"
end tell
Click to expand...

Thanks for the code. However, I can't seem to get it work, even though I checked the file path several times. Could you do an example for me?

Assuming my inputs are as follows,

disk image file: \a.dmg

file inside disk image: b.pages
 
Another way to do this is to create a shortcut to the linked file you want to open, and then when you click on it, OS X Will auto-mount the dmg to open the file.

pro-tip: If you want to password-protect an application, create an encrypted DMG, and put the app, in the DMG, in your dock. Clicking the app icon will mount the DMG, ask you for the password, and then open the app!

Hope that helps 🙂
 
hehe299792458 said:
Thanks for the code. However, I can't seem to get it work, even though I checked the file path several times. Could you do an example for me?

Assuming my inputs are as follows,

disk image file: \a.dmg

file inside disk image: b.pages
Click to expand...

To get the correct paths to use in this particular script, select a file and run this script. The path will be copied to the clipboard.

Code: 
tell application "Finder" to set the clipboard to the selection as text
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back