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Reveal Library folder on external drive
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Your Library folders are hidden by default in Lion and later. To get to your /Library or /Users/yourusername/Library (also known as the ~/Library) folders in Lion and later:
- Launch Finder and click Go > Go to Folder and type: /Library or ~/Library
- Hold the Option key while clicking the Go menu item, which reveals your ~/Library folder in the menu.
- Mavericks offers option to show user Library
- Make it permanently visible in Finder by entering the following command in Terminal, then press the Enter key: chflags nohidden ~/Library
- 18 ways to view the ~/Library folder in Lion
Try using this trick in Terminal to launch a Finder instance inside the other users account. I'm not sure if this will work with the account on an external drive though.
How is the ML disk setup? Is it bootable? You would be better off booting to that drive then using the trick I posted from that disk.
What GGJstudios posted it not going to help you. His post is related to how to view your own user Library.
In the Terminal :
chflags nohidden /Volumes/name_of_the_external_drive/Users/username/Library/
Does work.
I don't think his issue is that the folder is hidden, the issue is the folder is in another user account (protected) on an external drive so he won't be able to view it normally. Unless I am misunderstanding what OP is after.
The Terminal command in my post works with any hidden folder. Only the path changes. Your suggestion is useful if you're making the assumption that the folder that the OP refers to is not their own, which hasn't been specified.
It does not matter if it is his account or not. That is why I asked if he can boot to the drive. If he attaches a drive with Mountain Lion on it, no amount of unhiding folders will allow the folders to be viewed inside a user account, even if it is his account. That was my point.
So you're saying this behavior is a change introduced with Lion or ML, because it's absolutely doable in SL and earlier.
Just made some tests, to be sure :
In the infos window, under "sharing and permissions", if you check "ignore ownership on this volume", you have access to all the users accounts of the external hard drive.
Since the OP asked for a ML OS and a user Library that is hidden by default, the Terminal command should do the trick (works for me, anyway).
(Bibliothèque = Library. I revealed the Library from my ML account, using the Terminal command)
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In the infos window, under "sharing and permissions", if you check "ignore ownership on this volume", you have access to all the users accounts of the external hard drive.
Since the OP asked for a ML OS and a user Library that is hidden by default, the Terminal command should do the trick (works for me, anyway).
I disagree : I have a Mavericks external hard drive attached to my MBP running ML, and I can access ALL the user accounts (4 accounts, including a "macrumors" I created 10mn ago, for test).
(Bibliothèque = Library. I revealed the Library from my ML account, using the Terminal command)
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I completely agree with this and yours is the better solution.
But until your post here none of us told OP to do this (ignore ownership/permissions on volume), and the Terminal commands would not have worked.
Bruno has hit on the key. You need to have "ignore ownership on this volume" checked for it to work.
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All hail Bruno!!
I'm dense not to have thought of the obvious like you did.