MacOS drive shows big icons, list view won't stick

[Ben J.]

A small thing, but annoying, and… just silly.
When I view the top level of my internal startup disk, it will always default to large icons, and when I navigate thru the disk in that window, everything has this view. If I change to list view, it stays in list view until I close it

Setting it to list view, closing the window and opening in a new window - it's back to big icons. The problem only shows when starting a finder tab or new window with this top level, and only on this startup disk. Otherwise all windows with custom views remember their custom settings.

 

[chown33]

My guess is that the permissions of the ".DS_Store" file stored at "/" lacks write permission for your user ID.

To view the permissions:

ls -leO@d  /.DS_Store

To allow everyone to write to the file:

sudo chmod a+w  /.DS_Store

 

[Ben J.]

All I get is:
chmod: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory

 

[chown33]

OK, that means there isn't a file, and the permission on "/" prevents making one.

Try this:

sudo touch -f /.DS_Store

You should then be able to use the ls and chmod cmds shown.

If the Finder options still don't stick, then please post the output from the ls cmd.

 

[Ben J.]

Nope:

ls: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory

chmod: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory

 

[chown33]

Let's see what the "/" dir is doing.

ls -leOd@ /

 

[Ben J.]

I get:
touch: /.DS_Store: Read-only file system
when i input sudo touch -f /.DS_Store

I'm a terminal analphabet

 

[chown33]

The read-only file-system just dawned on me as you posted that.

I'm not sure how to deal with that aspect of SIP.

System Integrity Protection

macOS utilizes kernel permissions to limit writability of critical system files with a feature called System Integrity Protection (SIP).

support.apple.com

Obviously, a read-only file-system can't be written. Also, if SIP is enabled after being disabled to write a ".DS_Store" file, then I think anything done after the disable is reverted. That is, a file written while SIP is disabled will be lost, I think.

Someone with more SIP experience than me may need to chime in here.

The only ideas I have are work-arounds. Like create a Shortcut sequence that opens "/" in a Finder window and forces the view to List (or whatever). You can then assign it to a keystroke.

 

[Ben J.]

This one I knew from before:
csrutil status
Gives me
System Integrity Protection status: disabled.
I disabled it a long time ago.

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Grumpus]

What OS are you running Ben? Post-Catalina versions use a signed+sealed system volume which is read-only. I'm typing this under Mojave and /.DS_Store exists, while on another machine running Sonoma it does not.

 

[Ben J.]

Scratch that. Scratch everything.
I just tried it again; I set it to list view, and it shows in list view everytime I open it. Just like it should.
I don't know what I did, but there you go.

 

[chown33]

Curiouser and curiouser.

Can you rerun the 'ls' cmd on the .DS_Store file and see if the file exists? If so, please post the output.

If there's no .DS_Store file, then I wonder how persistent the list-view setting will be. Can you relaunch Finder and see what happens? Or logout and login again.

 

[Ben J.]

Curiouser and curiouser.

Can you rerun the 'ls' cmd on the .DS_Store file and see if the file exists? If so, please post the output.

If there's no .DS_Store file, then I wonder how persistent the list-view setting will be. Can you relaunch Finder and see what happens? Or logout and login again.

Like I said, I don't "speak terminal", I can copy/paste commands, that's about it.

After having the list view stick fine since yesterday, and checking again today, I ran:
ls -leO@d /.DS_Store
again, and got
ls: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory
List view still sticks.

I quit and relaunched Finder, and the top level of my startup disk is back to showing large symbols. (I have other disks that I never altered the top level view on, that are exactly the same symbols size, so it's obviously the default view.) And the view options has disabled the 'Always open in list view' check mark.

Again:
ls -leO@d /.DS_Store
returns:
ls: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory

Again I quit and relaunched Finder, and the top level of my startup disk is back to showing large symbols. I set it to list view, select 'Always open in list view', and it sticks, until, I expect, I quit and relaunch Finder again.

Would you mind trying it yourself - set list view, and in view options I select 'Always open in list view'. I quit and relaunch Finder and see if it sticks. It takes seconds.

Edit: 'Always open in list view' lets me close finder windows, and open a new window or tab, and the list view sticks (until I quit/relaunch Finder). If I don't select 'Always open in list view', any new window loses list viev on top level.

 

[chown33]

Would you mind trying it yourself - set list view, and in view options I select 'Always open in list view'. I quit and relaunch Finder and see if it sticks. It takes seconds.

Edit: 'Always open in list view' lets me close finder windows, and open a new window or tab, and the list view sticks (until I quit/relaunch Finder). If I don't select 'Always open in list view', any new window loses list viev on top level.

I don't have anything currently running an OS with SIP, so I can't check this.

Your description of how "Always open in list view" works seems to be consistent with my previous experience.

 

[Ben J.]

SIP has been turned off on my mac since I got it.
How do you know if this matters or not?

Your description of how "Always open in list view" works seems to be consistent with my previous experience.

So you're saying; you're familiar with this and it's how it works?

 

[chown33]

SIP has been turned off on my mac since I got it.
How do you know if this matters or not?

If the boot volume is mounted read-only, then files on that volume are inherently read-only, regardless of any other permissions enforcement.

So you're saying; you're familiar with this and it's how it works?

I've played with altering permissions of "/.DS_Store" on earlier OS versions with read-write mount of boot volume. The "Always open..." option is one thing that triggers a write to the file. If the file isn't writable, Finder still remembers the setting, until the next time it exits.

 

[Ben J.]

If the boot volume is mounted read-only, then files on that volume are inherently read-only, regardless of any other permissions enforcement.

Of course the sytem volume is a SSV, and read-only.
And of course the '-data volume is read/write.
What has this to do with SIP?

I've played with altering permissions of "/.DS_Store" on earlier OS versions with read-write mount of boot volume. The "Always open..." option is one thing that triggers a write to the file. If the file isn't writable, Finder still remembers the setting, until the next time it exits.

Did you read the thread?
I consistently get 'no such file or directory' on the .DS store.

 

[iMac2019]

try this and be sure you copy paste in your terminal :

Macintosh:~ $ sw_vers
ProductName: macOS
ProductVersion: 12.7.5
BuildVersion: 21H1222

Macintosh:~ $ ls -leO@d .DS_Store
-rw-r--r--@ 1 me staff - 22532 13 oct 11:33 .DS_Store
com.apple.FinderInfo 32

 

[Ben J.]

try this and be sure you copy paste in your terminal :

Would you mind telling me why I should do this?

 

[iMac2019]

Like I said, I don't "speak terminal", I can copy/paste commands, that's about it.

After having the list view stick fine since yesterday, and checking again today, I ran:
ls -leO@d /.DS_Store
again, and got
ls: /.DS_Store: No such file or directory
List view still sticks.

Like you did before ?

 

[Ben J.]

I'm not going to run any command posted by anyone I don't know or trust in terminal without a good reason, especially if it looks like a guess or experiment involving changing ownership permissions etc. Thanks for trying to help.

Like I indicated in the first post; this is in no way important for me to solve.

 

[iMac2019]

if you're happy, that's the most important thing.
don't bother with it

PS: btw above (ls and sw_vers) commands don't change or alter anything with the system.

 

[JoelBC]

The answer to your question is in this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/consistent-finder-setup-layout-problem.2439880/

The thread explains how to i) reset the View Setting of the Parent Folder and ii) how to make all the sub-folders follow the Parent Folder, should you wish.

The thread is short but will work; I know because I am its OP and my issue -- consistent Finder windows -- was solved.

Good luck!

 

[Ben J.]

The answer to your question is in this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/consistent-finder-setup-layout-problem.2439880/

The thread explains how to i) reset the View Setting of the Parent Folder and ii) how to make all the sub-folders follow the Parent Folder, should you wish.

The thread is short but will work; I know because I am its OP and my issue -- consistent Finder windows -- was solved.

Good luck!

I don't think you understood my issue. Try to read the first post again.

Nothing new to me in the thread you linked to, but thanks for trying.

 

[JoelBC]

I don't think you understood my issue. Try to read the first post again.

Nothing new to me in the thread you linked to, but thanks for trying.

I could be wrong but I think I do understand your issue .

I think the problem is that you have "nested" View Options set as default views (i.e., to use your wording, the top level of the startup disk has View Options set to include large icons with the Browse box ticked which applies it to all subfolders).

The problem is that any sub-folder with its ow View Options will ignore the View Option of its parent folder.

To permanently change the view of the top level of the startup disk and all subsequently sub-folders you need to:

1. Set the view in the top level of the start up disk to the way you want, select / tick the Browse box and then select "Use as defaults"

2. Any subfolder that does not adopt the View Options of its parent folder is because that subfolder has its own specific View Options. To fix this you need to set that subfolder's specific view back to defaults (by pressing the option key and then clicking the "Restore to defaults") so that the subfolder will now take the View Options of its parent folder.

If I misunderstood, apologies!