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Little Snitch - leave me alone please?

J

jetsonhk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 31, 2008
20
0
Hi All,

I installed and then thre wout Little Snitch because it was driving me crazy popping up asking me every 5 seconds if it wanted to talk to this site and then that site.

I trashed it with AppDelete, but for some reason it's still popping up from time to time and I'm sure its behind these weird hiccups I get when streaming video...

Anybody have any pointers - I see a similar question was raised here before:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/542216/

But no answers...
 
i have Little Snitch and just did a Finder search with "System files - included" and here are all the files that were installed. so just check if you have these, trash them, then reboot.

/Applications/Little Snitch Configuration
~/Library/Preferences/at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist
~/Library/Preferences/at.obdev.LittleSnitchConfiguration.plist
/Library/Application/Support/Little Snitch/rules.xpl
/Library/Application/Support/Objective Development/Little Snitch/registration_2
/Library/Launch Agents/at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist
/Library/Launch Agents/at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist
/Library/Little Snitch/Little Snitch Network Monitor
/Library/Little Snitch/Little Snitch UIAgent
/Library/Little Snitch/lsd
/System/Library/Extensions/LittleSnitch.kext

but ive found with Little Snitch you get bomarded with pop up windows at first, but when you customise your connections whether they be "allow" or "deny" it wont bother your again (until you install another app). the best way is to just use the popup windows, dont configure thru the app unless you have to change a connection.
 
Thanks Rich - I will try doing that.
I did also go to the LS site and they say to just run the installer/uninstaller again...but I think your way sounds like the most safe and secure and ultimate way of getting the files out.

Also to others reading this: I'm not dissing the program - it might be good for others.


richthomas said:
i have Little Snitch and just did a Finder search with "System files - included" and here are all the files that were installed. so just check if you have these, trash them, then reboot.

/Applications/Little Snitch Configuration
~/Library/Preferences/at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist
~/Library/Preferences/at.obdev.LittleSnitchConfiguration.plist
/Library/Application/Support/Little Snitch/rules.xpl
/Library/Application/Support/Objective Development/Little Snitch/registration_2
/Library/Launch Agents/at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist
/Library/Launch Agents/at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist
/Library/Little Snitch/Little Snitch Network Monitor
/Library/Little Snitch/Little Snitch UIAgent
/Library/Little Snitch/lsd
/System/Library/Extensions/LittleSnitch.kext

but ive found with Little Snitch you get bomarded with pop up windows at first, but when you customise your connections whether they be "allow" or "deny" it wont bother your again (until you install another app). the best way is to just use the popup windows, dont configure thru the app unless you have to change a connection.
Click to expand...
 
I was thinking about giving LittleSnitch a try, but being a newbie I am not too sure how I would know what to allow and what to deny
when the pop up comes on screen, can any one suggest how I could learn just which pop up warning I have to allow and which I should not ..? .... your comments would be most welcome .. Thanks
 
siam said:
I was thinking about giving LittleSnitch a try, but being a newbie I am not too sure how I would know what to allow and what to deny
when the pop up comes on screen, can any one suggest how I could learn just which pop up warning I have to allow and which I should not ..? .... your comments would be most welcome .. Thanks
Click to expand...

Simple really.
When the dialogue pops up, take a look at the icon in the top left hand corner. If you know/recognise the icon (i.e. if it's in your dock at that time) then all should be well.

Usually, you'll get the box when you've done something on the internet yourself so it'll be obvious which program it is.

You can always click 'show details' to see exactly what program is trying to connect to where.

There are a few programs that you might not know about that are sage (one is vmnet-natd, which is VMware connecting to the internet)
Just ask about them here if you want.
 
pjrobertson, Thanks for the reply, Can it be that simple :) , do you think LS can be run along side - NoobProof , at the same time ?
 
Its a great piece of software - but you should read about it first and then try.

I was a newbie when I first used it - but learnt quickly by reading the instructions etc.
 
I have it running too, and yes there are a lot of popups at first, then as I go through the apps, telling it to always allow, or always deny, the popups reduce.

I haven't had one for a long time now.

It's shocking the number of apps that want to phone home when you launch them. (generally to check they're the latest version).

One problem I do have is that Little Snitch seems to have installed itself into my 'guest' account. So when others borrow my MB and use the guest account, they're freaked out by all the popups, and don't know how to deal with them.

What makes it worse is that the Little Snitch pref file for the guest account is deleted every time the Guest Account is closed, which means it never remembers its settings and launches a new blizzard of pop ups every time the Guest Account is used.

How do I get it to leave the Guest Account alone?
 
^ ive modified the default User Template which the Guest account uses to create an account every time it logs in to allow my rules to be used. heres a 'lil how to.

  1. copy your rules file in ~/Library/Application Support/Little Snitch to your Public folder
  2. login to the Guest Account, create the same directory and then drag the rules file in. do the same for Little Snitch's pref files in ~/Library/Preferences
  3. use this guide to modify the User Template to add these files to the Guest account. the files used are in the Library so you should only need to use the "cp -R Library/ …" command unless you want to modifiy other settings as outlined in the article
  4. then log out and log back in and it should load the rules
NOTE: the only annoying thing about this is when you login to the Guest account a window will appear asking if you want continue with the modified rules, ONLY CLICK "CONTINUE" as clicking "Continue with defaults" will clear your rules.
 
As some one who has recently deserted the dark side and who is now on the Mac learning curve, I would like to ask you guys who are using Little Snitch one simple '' newbie '' question .. Would having LS on my new iMac be of any great benifit ?

Thanks
 
^
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html said:
Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge.
Click to expand...

so it essentially give you the choice of blocking or allowing applications or system processes from accessing the internet. this could be helpful for example if you want to stop apps from checking for updates on launch if there is no option to stop this in its preferences. i found it especially helpful for blocking Front Row from accessing the internet when i had a slow connection as it hangs for a while connecting to the iTunes store.
 
Tanks for the comments, I asked the question .. Would having LS on my new iMac be of any great benifit ?

after reading this comment ...

The best that Little Snitch is good for is to stop applications from phoning home (which they generally do for innocuous reasons, such as looking for updates), or for using pirated software (i.e. to keep software from checking to see if you are using a registered copy.) Most of the reports that you receive from Little Snitch are self-serving, intended to scare you into thinking that the application is doing something useful for you. Generally, its not. You can do totally without Little Snitch.

I think as .. Chappers pointed out , I will just give ita try for my self and hope if its not to my liking , I can delete it Ok. :)
 
siam said:
The best that Little Snitch is good for is to stop applications from phoning home (which they generally do for innocuous reasons, such as looking for updates), or for using pirated software (i.e. to keep software from checking to see if you are using a registered copy.) Most of the reports that you receive from Little Snitch are self-serving, intended to scare you into thinking that the application is doing something useful for you. Generally, its not. You can do totally without Little Snitch.
Click to expand...

FUD!!

little snitch rocks, and I am not a pirate!
 
install EASYFIND and then look for Snitch, LSD, objdev
and it will find ALL files.

Easyfind is the best there is out there-like Panthers FIND...which was tossed for the useless SPOTLIGHT
 
seashellz said:
install EASYFIND and then look for Snitch, LSD, objdev
and it will find ALL files.

Easyfind is the best there is out there-like Panthers FIND...which was tossed for the useless SPOTLIGHT
Click to expand...

why not just add "System Files - include" in a Finder search. does the same thing and is integrated into OS X.
 
doug in albq said:
FUD!!

little snitch rocks, and I am not a pirate!
Click to expand...

The problem is that programs like Little Snitch exist at a tiny intersection...

- If you're highly savvy, usually you know what you installed and what it does ... and AFAIK, LS isn't a great network monitoring tool in the sense of trying to bandwidth monitor different apps.

- If you install a lot of apps and you don't know what they do, then it can be useful, but most of these people won't really understand how to parse its error messages and warnings because they don't understand much about networking to begin with.

So who has enough savvy to understand LS's output but not enough to be isntalling all kinds of programs and not really be sure what they're doing?
 
mkrishnan .. your point ...

If you install a lot of apps and you don't know what they do, then it can be useful, but most of these people won't really understand how to parse its error messages and warnings because they don't understand much about networking to begin with.


As a newbie who likes to try app's out - your above comment is about me ,
this is what I was worried about, in seeing the warning pop up's and really not knowing what to do for the best, ( allow, or deny ) so in that case not really knowing what to allow or not allow can make LS a waste of time ..?
 
mkrishnan said:
The problem is that programs like Little Snitch exist at a tiny intersection...

- If you're highly savvy, usually you know what you installed and what it does ... and AFAIK, LS isn't a great network monitoring tool in the sense of trying to bandwidth monitor different apps.

- If you install a lot of apps and you don't know what they do, then it can be useful, but most of these people won't really understand how to parse its error messages and warnings because they don't understand much about networking to begin with.

So who has enough savvy to understand LS's output but not enough to be isntalling all kinds of programs and not really be sure what they're doing?
Click to expand...

lol for the trick question–sort of "damned of you do and damned of you don't" according to your personal view about the use of this particular app.

Some people are simply curious to see what is trying to connect when.
 
doug in albq said:
lol for the trick question–sort of "damned of you do and damned of you don't" according to your personal view about the use of this particular app.

Some people are simply curious to see what is trying to connect when.
Click to expand...

As I too am curious I was thinking about givng LS a try, but being a newbie I can see my self hitting the deny tab every time thinking its some thing '' bad'' trying to call home :confused:
 
I use little snitch daily. Takes around a week to get it all configured but once it is, it's totally worth it. I also set plenty of rules regarding first call home- if it's a URL allow it once.
 
EvanLugh said:
I use little snitch daily. Takes around a week to get it all configured but once it is, it's totally worth it. I also set plenty of rules regarding first call home- if it's a URL allow it once.
Click to expand...


I may be over racting a bit :) , how do you know if you should allow it in the first place and let it call home ?, and what if you get it wrong ?


Thanks
 
For example (and this is an example!!) I pirate software.

Photoshop would try to call home when I start it, I click deny all (always). But it might want to update, so i allow access (always) to the IP it is connecting to (the update server). Done :)
 
Thanks EvanLugh , What would you do if you got a warning but not know or recognize what it was ..? , as I am sure this would happen to me :(


Thanks
 
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