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Resolved Newb: Please help me delete stubborn system files

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smartin80

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2020
56
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I have just upgraded from an old Intel Mac which was running Monterey (like a train...) to a new Mini Pro M4 running Sequoia, 15.2. I migrated from the old machine using TimeMachine during the first setup. That is to say I booted the first time with a TM disk attached and asked for the data to be migrated.
All week I have been fixing the stuff that broke in the transition. One of the important things that broke was my Wacom tablet. (I'm a retoucher/photographer)

A new install of the Wacom driver fails. No useful error message other than to contact Wacom. This I have done. They say to ensure that the old installation is fully removed. There are three files/directories still to remove but they refuse to be deleted:

/Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework

/Library/Preferences/Tablet

/Library/PreferencePanes/WacomTablet.prefpane (Does not appear in system prefs…)

I have been right round the houses trying to delete these items, dragging them conventionally to the trash, using the Terminal, even activating the root user and using the Terminal there. Nothing seems to work and there are no useful error messages other than to say "You have no access", "Operation not permitted" or similar.

What else can I try?

I spot checked files in /Library/Preferences and notice that they are all in the “wheel” group. “Tablet” is in the “admin” group for me. Is this an issue? Permissions on "Tablet" for me are: system:R&W, admin:R&W, everyone:Read only.

Things seem more varied in /Library/Frameworks as regards permissions and I have no other Prefs Panes to compare to...

I'm not super technical and break out in a sweat using the Terminal but I'm totally against the wall here as the Wacom is vital to me.

Any suggestions gratefully received :)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
adrianlondon said:
I can delete random stuff from /Library/Preferences.

My user is as an admin one, and each change asks me to authenticate (with password or touch id).

Maybe you still have some Wacom softtware running? You could try re-installing it and deleting it again using an app such as AppCleaner. Maybe this reddit thread helps?
https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/10uc312/macbook_air_m1_wacom_center_not_respondingcrashing
Click to expand...
I would expect to be able to delete from the Prefs folder by giving an admin login but in this case I can't for some unknown reason.
I can't re-install as the installation fails, probably due to the files I can't delete :)
I'll have a look at the link you mention.
Thanks!
 
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Give Full Disk Access to Terminal and try:

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/Preferences/Tablet

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/WacomTablet.prefpane
 
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bogdanw said:
Give Full Disk Access to Terminal and try:

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/Preferences/Tablet

Code: 
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/WacomTablet.prefpane
Click to expand...
I just spoke to Apple and did a new install of Sequoia...
I get: <@Mac-mini ~ % sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework
Password:
rm: /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework: Operation not permitted>
Just as before...
 
Do you still have your old mac? In that case maybe you could try deleting the files there, and if that works, resetting your new mac and doing the time machine-process all over again, which shouldn't migrate the old files?

I'd also say that when jumping that many MacOS versions and from Intel to Silicon, it might be a good idea not to migrate preference panes and the like, as they most likely have been superseded by newer versions, and that can cause all sorts of headaches.
 
smartin80 said:
I just spoke to Apple and did a new install of Sequoia...
I get: <@Mac-mini ~ % sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework
Password:
rm: /Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework: Operation not permitted>
Just as before...
Click to expand...
Did you do the "Give Full Disk Access to Terminal" posted above?

System Settings / Privacy & Security / Full Disk Access
 
Another way, from Terminal In Recovery:
Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework"

Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/Tablet"

Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/PreferencePanes/WacomTablet.prefpane"
 
OP:

Did you DISABLE System Integrity Protection?

Might be required before the OS will permit you to delete certain files.
 
When trying to diagnose problems like this, you can use the ls "-O" option to list any file flags - if you see "restricted" the file is protected by SIP. That's an "oh" not a zero, and it must be combined with -l. The chflags man page gives info on the possible file flags, although it doesn't mention "restricted." I usually also include the -@ flag to list any extended attributes.
Code: 
$ ls -lO@ /Library/Updates
total 192
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  restricted   91K Jan  9 09:06 ProductMetadata.plist
    com.apple.quarantine      15B
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  restricted   96B Dec 11 13:35 Rosetta
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  restricted  260B Dec 18 06:19 index.plist
 
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p33t3r said:
Do you still have your old mac? In that case maybe you could try deleting the files there, and if that works, resetting your new mac and doing the time machine-process all over again, which shouldn't migrate the old files?

I'd also say that when jumping that many MacOS versions and from Intel to Silicon, it might be a good idea not to migrate preference panes and the like, as they most likely have been superseded by newer versions, and that can cause all sorts of headaches.
Click to expand...
I've actually paused this and ordered a replacement Huion tablet but you have given me an idea... If I attached my TimeMachine disk, I might be able to wind back to a point where the Wacom Utility is present and try to remove the old installation with that...
 
bogdanw said:
Another way, from Terminal In Recovery:
Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Frameworks/WacomMultiTouch.Framework"

Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/Tablet"

Code: 
rm -r "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/PreferencePanes/WacomTablet.prefpane"
Click to expand...
Do you get more "powers" when in recovery mode than you would when using the Terminal as the Root User...?
 
Grumpus said:
When trying to diagnose problems like this, you can use the ls "-O" option to list any file flags - if you see "restricted" the file is protected by SIP. That's an "oh" not a zero, and it must be combined with -l. The chflags man page gives info on the possible file flags, although it doesn't mention "restricted." I usually also include the -@ flag to list any extended attributes.
Code: 
$ ls -lO@ /Library/Updates
total 192
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  restricted   91K Jan  9 09:06 ProductMetadata.plist
    com.apple.quarantine      15B
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel  restricted   96B Dec 11 13:35 Rosetta
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  restricted  260B Dec 18 06:19 index.plist
Click to expand...
That's interesting... In /Library/Preferences
I get: <drwxrwxr-x@ 2 root 64 7 Jan 20:37 Tablet>
"Tablet" being the one I'm trying to remove. That would indicate that it's not restricted/protected?
 
BrianBaughn said:
I was pretty sure it would be a bad idea to use Migration going from Intel to my M1 Mac Studio…so I didn't.
Click to expand...
I was hesitant too but I took a chance to save weeks of bedding down. So far this is the only issue, touch wood...
 
smartin80 said:
That's interesting... In /Library/Preferences
I get: <drwxrwxr-x@ 2 root 64 7 Jan 20:37 Tablet>
"Tablet" being the one I'm trying to remove. That would indicate that it's not restricted/protected?
Click to expand...
Tablet is a directory and has extended attributes (as indicated by the trailing @ in the permissions). If you post the output of these commands someone might see what's going on:
Code: 
ls -lO@d /Library/Preferences/Tablet
ls -lO@R /Library/Preferences/Tablet
Note the 'd' option in the first command and the 'R' in the second.

You could just take the advice above to try deleting from Recovery (and don't leave off the '-r' option, that's required when removing directories).
 
Grumpus said:
Tablet is a directory and has extended attributes (as indicated by the trailing @ in the permissions). If you post the output of these commands someone might see what's going on:
Code: 
ls -lO@d /Library/Preferences/Tablet
ls -lO@R /Library/Preferences/Tablet
Note the 'd' option in the first command and the 'R' in the second.

You could just take the advice above to try deleting from Recovery (and don't leave off the '-r' option, that's required when removing directories).
Click to expand...
I get:
Mac-mini:~ Simon$ ls -lO@d /Library/Preferences/Tablet
drwxrwxr-x@ 2 root admin restricted 64 7 Jan 20:37 /Library/Preferences/Tablet
com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot 50
com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot 50
com.apple.timemachine.private.directorycompletiondate 40
Mac-mini:~ Simon$ ls -lO@R /Library/Preferences/Tablet
total 0
Mac-mini:~ Simon$
It *is* restricted then...?
 
Your Honor, I want to recant my previous testimony....

The easiest and safest thing for you to do would be to boot to Recovery, open a Terminal, and use csrutil disableto turn off SIP. Then restart using the Apple menu, log on, open a Terminal and remove the unwanted files and directories. When done, you can boot back to Recovery, open a Terminal and use csrutil enableto turn SIP back on.

I'm changing my advice because after booting to Recovery you'll likely find that Macintosh HD - Data won't be mounted, and since that's where /Library actually lives you won't be able to delete anything from it. Mounting it isn't particularly difficult (details on request), but since hanging out in a Recovery mode Terminal can be an invitation to disaster, KISS is the best approach.
 
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