OS X Startup Not Working - Need to locate and delete files in Terminal

[olikid]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for my first post being a tech issue - I'm just having a nightmare this morning and could really do with the help.

So I (stupidly) installed an application called glowWorm on my Leopard install - Following the installation many of my apps hung, so I tried to reboot - Only to find that I'm presented with the light blue screen and can't get any further.

I found a comment where someone else had the same issue and managed to fix it by booting into terminal, identifying some files added to the bootup process (By GlowWorm) and rwemove them - trouble is, I have no idea how to use terminal and I'm now stuck as a result.

I've booted into terminal, but have no idea how to locate the files or even remove them once I do - Could anyone offer any advice? This is the comment I've found that explains how to fix the issue:

MOK Careful! This program hosed my Leopard mac. After installing and launching, immediately a few of my apps stopped responding and went into a ghost state in which they could not be force quit under any means (I've never seen anything like it before). A soft logout or restart stopped working too, so I did a hard reboot and my mac would not make it past a blue screen. Tried over and over again, couldn't even get to the login screen. I rebooted from my OSX DVD, opened the Terminal.app and looked for recently modified files in the /System directory. Guess what: the newest file was a GlowWorm kernel extension. I moved this out of the way (the only change I did), rebooted and my system now works perfectly again. This is program super flaky, I have NEVER had a program prevent my mac from booting before.

I realize that it's hard to maintain free software, but when it comes to kernel extensions, my tolerance for flakiness is very low. Use caution.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance...

 

[richard.mac]

you can use Terminal from the install DVD if you want but ill tell you an easier way without even booting into the install DVD (if it seems too hard by all means use Terminal… its essentially the same thing).

boot your Mac into Single User Mode by holding "command-S" on startup and wait for the prompt. enter

/sbin/mount -uw /

then

cd /System/Library/Extensions; ls -lt

GlowWorm should be at the top of the list as its sorted by date modified in desending order. that is if its in the Extensions folder (im not sure from where it is from your quote). if its not there you can just "cd" into different folders and look around by using "ls -lt" again (just use normal "ls" to see which directories you can "cd" into).

then when you are in the directory where the Gloworm kernel extension is you can remove it by entering

sudo rm GlowWorm.kext

and type in your password.

then type "reboot" and hopefully your Mac will boot!

 

[chas0001]

Have you tried to boot into safe mode (hold down the shift key during the boot process) and then uninstalling glowworm as per their website.

 

[olikid]

Have you tried to boot into safe mode (hold down the shift key during the boot process) and then uninstalling glowworm as per their website.

It won't let me boot into safe Mode at all - literally just showing the blue screen - Unfortunately booting from CD seems like the only option...

Thanks for the advice richthomas - Nothing is showing up in the Extensions directory though - in fact, everything in there is older than 2008 so I'm not too sure where to find it...

I booted in Verbose mode and saw GlowWorm mentioned - if I do that again will it show me the folder where the .kext is kept?

I feel like such a tool for downloading this.

 

[chas0001]

Their website indicates that these 2 files are loaded during the boot:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.*
/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext

Not sure whether deleting them will cause you any other problems though.

If you have a Time Machine Backup perhaps it would be a good idea to boot from the Install DVD and restore to a time before you installed Glowworm.

 

[olikid]

Their website indicates that these 2 files are loaded during the boot:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.*
/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext

Not sure whether deleting them will cause you any other problems though.

If you have a Time Machine Backup perhaps it would be a good idea to boot from the Install DVD and restore to a time before you installed Glowworm.

No sign of /System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext at all - very weird...

I booted in verbose mode again, and this was the location of the files called during boot up:

/Library/Application Support/GlowWorm/Utilities/glowwormd[40]

Worth deleting that?

I'm just worried that deleting these will make it even worse - But what have I got to lose right?

 

[richard.mac]

so now boot into Single User Mode, mount the file system and then enter this

cd /Library/Application Support/GlowWorm/Utilities/; sudo rm glowwormd

also enter

fsck -fy

(keep entering until is says "Volume is OK")

and

sudo diskutil repairPermissions /

then reboot

 

[olikid]

so now boot into Single User Mode mount the file system and enter these

cd /Library/Application Support/GlowWorm/Utilities/; sudo rm glowwormd

then reboot

It doesn't like the space in 'Application Support', saying

/Library/Application; No Such File or Directory

Am I going Mad?

Triple checked I'm not got any tyop's, and when I do

/Library; ls -lt

I can see Application Support Listed

 

[richard.mac]

^ sorry my bad. you have to type "Application\ Support" in Terminal. im too used to using Go To Folder in Finder where you dont have to type backspaces for spaces.

also delete the whole GlowWorm directory too, i didnt notice that (just see my edit above).

 

[olikid]

^ sorry my bad. you have to type "Application\ Support" in Terminal. im too used to using Go To Folder in Finder where you dont have to type backspaces for spaces.

also delete the whole GlowWorm directory too, i didnt notice that (just see my edit above).

Ah, thanks for that.

I just listed files in /Application Support/ (/Library/Application\ Support; ls -lt) and it's not showing anything in there - that's got to be wrong for sure...

Booted via CD (Won't let me boot into single user), but did:

/sbin/mount -uw /

Am I missing another command here? It hasn't prompted me for my password or anything yet.

Sorry for all the issues here.

 

[richard.mac]

^ you dont need to do the sbin command in Terminal only in Single User Mode. just go right ahead and cd to the directory.

you could try using the find command to find anything starting with "GlowWorm" and them rm it.

find / -name GlowWorm.* -type f -print

 

[olikid]

^ you dont need to do the sbin command in Terminal only in Single User Mode. just go right ahead and cd to the directory.

you could try using the find command to find anything starting with "GlowWorm" and them rm it.

find / -name GlowWorm.* -type f -print

Eurgh - Ok, so the find worked which is awesome, so I tried this:

cd /Volumes/gleep/Library/Application\ Support/GlowWorm; sudo rm GlowWorm

And get this:

-bash: sudo: command not found

 

[richard.mac]

try

cd /Volumes/gleep/Library/Application\ Support/; sudo rm -rf GlowWorm

 

[olikid]

try

cd /Volumes/gleep/Library/Application\ Support/; sudo rm -rf GlowWorm

Same again:

-bash: sudo: command not found

Do I need to login to use Sudo? I've not entered a user name or password in this process at all.

 

[richard.mac]

what did it print on the screen when you entered the find command? does GlowWorm have an extension and is therfore a file or is it a directory? if its a file type "GlowWorm.*" (note the asterisk is a wildcard as i dont know the extension, you can use it if you like or just type the extension)

try it without sudo it may work. i just use it anyway. if it needs root privileges it will tell you and then use sudo.

if your using Terminal on the install DVD and you to enter "/Volumes/gleep/" instead of just "/" (which would be the install DVD). then because youre in your boot disk's filesystem it will know your admin password, you dont need to log in at all. if youre in Single User Mode its just like youre booted into your main drive except without the GUI and loading of system extensions, so again no need to login just enter your admin password.

 

[olikid]

what did it print on the screen when you entered the find command? does GlowWorm have an extension and is therfore a file or is it a directory? if its a file type "GlowWorm.*" (note the asterisk is a wildcard as i dont know the extension, you can use it if you like it will stil lw ork)

try it without sudo it may work. i just use it anyway. if it needs root privileges it will tell you and then use sudo.

if your using Terminal on the install DVD and you to enter "/Volumes/gleep/" instead of just "/" (which would be the install DVD). then because youre in your boot disk's filesystem it will know your admin password, you dont need to log in at all. if youre in Single User Mode its just like youre booted into your main drive except without the GUI and loading of system extensions, so again no need to login just enter your admin password.

You are a TOTAL STAR!!!!!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH for your help - I know I took a while to catch on, but GOD, you have NO IDEA how you've SAVED MY LIFE (Well Career anyway)...

Thank you so so so much.

 

[richard.mac]

EDIT: disregard this, i see youve fixed the problem .

ok so i just downloaded GlowWorm and opened the installer and typed in my admin password thinking i would get an Installer.app installer but i was wrong, it installed it! bad software!

not to worry i did a Finder search on "glowworm" with system files enabled and got a listing of every file. chas0001 was right there are two .plist files in LaunchDaemons that are probably causing the trouble.

/Applications/GlowWorm.app
/Library/Application\ Support/GlowWorm/
/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.pid2pathd.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.daemon.plist
/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext

just go thru and rm each of these. remember "/Library/Application\ Support/GlowWorm/", "/Applications/GlowWorm.app" and "/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext" are all directories so just make sure you "rm -rf" them. youll need to use sudo for the three files in the System directory.

 

[olikid]

EDIT: disregard this, i see youve fixed the problem .

ok so i just downloaded GlowWorm and opened the installer and typed in my admin password thinking i would get an Installer.app installer but i was wrong, it installed it! bad software!

not to worry i did a Finder search on "glowworm" with system files enabled and got a listing of every file. chas0001 was right there are two .plist files in LaunchDaemons that are probably causing the trouble.

/Applications/GlowWorm.app
/Library/Application\ Support/GlowWorm/
/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.pid2pathd.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/symphonic.glowworm.daemon.plist
/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext

just go thru and rm each of these. remember "/Library/Application\ Support/GlowWorm/", "/Applications/GlowWorm.app" and "/System/Library/Extensions/GlowWorm.kext" are all directories so just make sure you "rm -rf" them. youll need to use sudo for the three files in the System directory.

Brave guy - I'd have never gone near it...

OK so I've deleted all of these through the Aqua interface - do I need to do it through terminal do you think? Now I'm booted into OSX it'll make life much easier I'd have thought.

Thank you so much for your help again... Happy to pay for your time if you send over a PayPal addy? Can't afford a lot, but I have to repay you somehow.

 

[richard.mac]

… do I need to do it through terminal do you think? Now I'm booted into OSX it'll make life much easier I'd have thought. …

nope! if youve deleted all those files and directories and can boot into Aqua youre all set now!

no worries! if you need any other help dont hesitate to ask here again. there are many more other helpful members besides myself.

 

[olikid]

no worries! if you need any other help dont hesitate to ask here again. there are many more other helpful members besides myself.

Well, either way, thanks very much for the help - It's massively appreciated.

 

[jbtam99]

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THIS THREAD!!! I had to join the forum based on the help I found here.

Though I wound up trying a different approach to finally get rid of it, in that I started in Safe Boot and re-installed GlowWorm and went for the uninstall.app in the /Library/Application Support/Glowworm/Utilities folder. Which worked completely as well.

Thanks a bunch for the tips on what to be on the lookout for on this one though, it really helped. I'm a mac newbie, coming from Linux, so everything helps.

 

[sickmacdoc]

I had to laugh when I looked up this program to just see what it was- and I saw their tag line "Network Security for your Mac- peace of mind for you"

Seems that that whole line could use some serious reworking from the sound of the thread!

Glad that nasty problem was solved!

 

[urooz]

works great!

wow that works great! thanks a lot Richard!

you can use Terminal from the install DVD if you want but ill tell you an easier way without even booting into the install DVD (if it seems too hard by all means use Terminal… its essentially the same thing).

boot your Mac into Single User Mode by holding "command-S" on startup and wait for the prompt. enter

/sbin/mount -uw /

then

cd /System/Library/Extensions; ls -lt

GlowWorm should be at the top of the list as its sorted by date modified in desending order. that is if its in the Extensions folder (im not sure from where it is from your quote). if its not there you can just "cd" into different folders and look around by using "ls -lt" again (just use normal "ls" to see which directories you can "cd" into).

then when you are in the directory where the Gloworm kernel extension is you can remove it by entering

sudo rm GlowWorm.kext

and type in your password.

then type "reboot" and hopefully your Mac will boot!