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I'm an idiot, please help!! Moved System library!

bdesign7

bdesign7

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2005
43
0
Chicago, IL
So, I accidentally moved my library out of my system folder, and now it won't go back in. I try to drag it in, nothing, I try to copy and paste, nothing. I don't know what to do short of reinstalling my os, and god knows I don't want to do that (out of sheer time constraints, reloading all my apps would take a while) If anyone out there can help me with this, I would kiss your feet. Seriously though, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Just out of curiosity, how did you do that. I just tried to that /System/Libary to the Desktop. All it did was copy the folder. Are you sure you moved it?
 
If you open Terminal, then type:

Code: 
sudo mv [where it is] /System

It should work. The easiest way to enter the [where it is] part is to drag the current Library folder onto the Terminal window, which will past the location, then type the "/System" part, so it'll look something like:

Code: 
sudo mv /users/bdesign7/Desktop/Library /System

or some such.

Then you'll need to enter your admin password, and it should be fine.
 
grapes911 said:
Just out of curiosity, how did you do that. I just tried to that /System/Libary to the Desktop. All it did was copy the folder. Are you sure you moved it?
Click to expand...
Good point....
 
It was on the desktop. Now my computer just locked up semi-completely. I can still use dashboard, that's it. Should I try a restart?
 
As I said, I'm an idiot. I was trying to install the Front Row hack, and while deleting it (Front Row) accidentally hit the library. I then pulled it out and put it on the desktop.
 
bdesign7 said:
It was on the desktop. Now my computer just locked up semi-completely. I can still use dashboard, that's it. Should I try a restart?
Click to expand...
I'd try to get to Terminal. if not, you'll likely lock up and need to boot in single-user mode to fix the problem. Yikes...
 
I don't think I'm logged in as root. I still have to type my admin password for everything, does that mean I'm not? Sorry to be so stupid.
 
bdesign7 said:
I don't think I'm logged in as root. I still have to type my admin password for everything, does that mean I'm not? Sorry to be so stupid.
Click to expand...
If you didn't type 'root' when you logged in, you're not root. Just don't log in as root (which you can't unless you've enable that account, which is disabled by default). It's almost never necessary....
 
Okay, that's locked up totally. I've gone to single user mode, and it's locked up. ****. the last line says "panic: We are hanging here..."
 
Um, OK, looks like you're a wee bit screwed. When single-user-mode says it's in a panic, that's NEVER good.

Got OS X disks? Looks like you'll need to reinstall it, but you shouldn't have to wipe the disk and lose everything, just do an "Archive and Install" first... which might work, then you could work on replacing that Library folder with your old one once you bring it up to the OS version you were using (i.e., 10.4.3 or whatever).
 
Two options that I can think of:
1. Mount the computer on another Mac via Target. Move the folder back.
2. Do an archive and install. You shouldn't lose an data, but you'll have to re-update you Mac.
 
Thanks for the help. Hopefully the Archive and install will work. I guess it was only a matter of time before I did something this stupid. The sad part is I've had Mac's since day one '84, and always tell people not to go screwing around in the system folder. Here's why, right?
 
bdesign7 said:
Thanks for the help. Hopefully the Archive and install will work. I guess it was only a matter of time before I did something this stupid. The sad part is I've had Mac's since day one '84, and always tell people not to go screwing around in the system folder. Here's why, right?
Click to expand...
Trust me, you're not the first experienced Mac user to screw up their system. Unlike with Windows, it's usually the experienced users who screw up their Macs. ;)
 
hahaha, thanks for the encouragement. I guess you're right. I just bit off more than I could chew. Well, the folder is now moved back, no problem there (thru the good ol' target firewire. Glad I bought that cable when I got my new P-book). And I'm gonna attempt to restart it first, then reinstall if necessary.
 
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