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SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-21, 08:06

Sometimes (like just now, maybe 5 times before) after unplugging my LaCie USB drive after using CCC, my Home folder appears on my Desktop, despite it not having been there before and despite the "Show Hard Disks on Desktop" box in Finder Prefs not being checked.

Get Info says that the icon that shows up actually represents my Home folder (~40GB), so it is not an alias and it is not a corrupted icon for the LaCie (which is now unplugged).

When I clear the "Show CDs, DVDs and iPods on Desktop" box in Finder Prefs, the Home Folder icon disappears, but then when I check the box again it returns. But obviously, my Home folder is not removable media so it should not show up like this. So wtf?

A relaunch of the Finder does nothing to remedy the situation. Only a Restart clears this up, but, obviously, thats a crap solution. Any ideas?

Thanks

bouncy bouncy
  quote
VOX BARBARA
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-22, 15:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
Sometimes (like just now, maybe 5 times before) after unplugging my LaCie USB drive after using CCC, my Home folder appears on my Desktop, despite it not having been there before and despite the "Show Hard Disks on Desktop" box in Finder Prefs not being checked.

Get Info says that the icon that shows up actually represents my Home folder (~40GB), so it is not an alias and it is not a corrupted icon for the LaCie (which is now unplugged).

When I clear the "Show CDs, DVDs and iPods on Desktop" box in Finder Prefs, the Home Folder icon disappears, but then when I check the box again it returns. But obviously, my Home folder is not removable media so it should not show up like this. So wtf?

A relaunch of the Finder does nothing to remedy the situation. Only a Restart clears this up, but, obviously, thats a crap solution. Any ideas?

Thanks
That sounds pretty weird to me. I never happened to see anything similar like you have discribed. Does this phenomen occur in combination with your LaCie USB drive only?

What do the log files tell you? (console.app)
Did you perform the usual housekeeping, repairing permissions, perhaps resetting parameter ram (hold CMD + OPTION + P + R while you start up the comp.)?

Perhaps "Activity Monitor.app" (located in the app/utility folder) could tell you, what kind of system processes are involved? Kill the processes which seem to be odd to you. Don't worry about that, the worst thing that could happen, you gonna be logged out for a moment

Well, just a few ideas to start with.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-22, 16:57

Thanks a lot for your reply VOX BARBARA.

1) I'm not sure if this Home Folder weirdness only happens with my LaCie - I think it might very well be a general problem.

2) Errr... the Console's log files tell me gobbldegookiddlegejigsquat.... I don't understand what all the numbers and letters mean. I could post a specific log, if you think that would help to solve the problem...

3) I've done the daily/weekly/monthly tasks (MacJanitor) and Repaired Permissions (Disk Util), but the Home Folder icon is still on the Desktop. I haven't reset the PRAM - one reason is that I'm pretty sure the problem will disappear by just restarting the computer anyway and I would like to get to the bottom of things rather than take this way out.

4) Again, Activity Monitor doesn't tell me anything that I can understand.

5) I've cleared caches too, no change.

I have just noticed, though, that in the sidebar of my Finder windows, the desktop icon has reverted to the default blue folder. That's weird too, no?

Plus, I have always had the problem that my iPod does not show up on the desktop as a hard disk. Once it has finished updating, the iPod icon disappears from the Desktop immediately - I want to Repair the Disk and Permissions, but the damn thing won't let me.

Any more ideas anyone?

Thanks

bouncy bouncy
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-22, 21:39

I have a feeling that you used CCC to "clone" your Home folder to your LaCie (probably as a backup attempt). It seems that your computer is getting "confused" and seeing the entire LaCie disk as your "Home" folder when the LaCie is plugged in.

The Desktop folder in your Finder sidebar, lost its custom icon, most likely because your "Home" Desktop may have been un-blessed.

Here's what you do - restart if you've plugged in the LaCie since your last restart. Check your Users folder and make sure that your User has the proper icons on it, and that all your documents and data are up to date (if you've been running with the LaCie hooked up, some of your most recent data may actually be on the external).

Once you are SURE that you have everything on your computer, you should Repair Permissions. Then you should restart.

After you restart, plug in the LaCie and use Disk Utility to reformat. If you can't, then select the disk and Get Info in the Finder, and check the box for Ignore Permissions on this volume.
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VOX BARBARA
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-24, 02:54

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
...
feel free to report just curious. My feeling now is FFL is on the right track, although i can't imagine that this "home confuseing" could be even possible. I know some people (the geek type) who are tinkering a lot with sudo status and such, they told me the problem could easily fixed with "netinfo.app", but that is a bussines i am not quite in with

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 07:10

Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
I have a feeling that you used CCC to "clone" your Home folder to your LaCie (probably as a backup attempt). It seems that your computer is getting "confused" and seeing the entire LaCie disk as your "Home" folder when the LaCie is plugged in.

The Desktop folder in your Finder sidebar, lost its custom icon, most likely because your "Home" Desktop may have been un-blessed.
I don't really think that the computer got "confused" like you describe (though that's what I originally thought, too) because, the Home Folder icon is still visible on the desktop and accessible when the LaCie is disconnected.

Anyway, I copped-out last nite and restarted my computer. As I thought would happen, the offending icon has disappeared and all seems quiet on the Home Front (heh).

However, I did follow your instructions FormerLurker err... FFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
Here's what you do - restart if you've plugged in the LaCie since your last restart. Check your Users folder and make sure that your User has the proper icons on it, and that all your documents and data are up to date (if you've been running with the LaCie hooked up, some of your most recent data may actually be on the external).

Once you are SURE that you have everything on your computer, you should Repair Permissions. Then you should restart.

After you restart, plug in the LaCie and use Disk Utility to reformat. If you can't, then select the disk and Get Info in the Finder, and check the box for Ignore Permissions on this volume.
1) Last nite I restarted
2) This morning I repaired permissions (Disk Util)
3) Then I updated pre-binding (Terminal: sudo update_prebinding -root / -force)
4) Then I restarted
5) Then I reformatted the back-up volume (one of two volumes) on the LaCie
6) Then I backed-up again to the LaCie

Everything seemed normal. Many of the permissions that needed repairing began with the location /Library/Caches - I assume that was because I recently cleared Caches. Most of the stuff that needed re-binding (that needed its pre-binding updated?) was to do with the networked printer in the computer room that I use remotely - ie as per usual. Number of files unsuccessfully prebound was 70/1498 - absolutely normal (btw, is that a high number, low or average?).

That's about it. As I said, the problem is gone, so I'll just have to see if it comes back again.

One last thing, everytime before I back-up to my LaCie, I reformat the back-up volume. Is that a good or a bad idea? Is it necessary with CCC. I seem to remember that there is some sort of plug-in that allows you to do "sync" back-ups - just back-up whatever has been changed since the last back-up. Any ideas?

Thanks for all your help

bouncy bouncy
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SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 09:51

I don't fucking believe it. The fucking Home Folder icon is back already! ALREADY!

I think it *must* be to do with the LaCie: two back-ups, two instances of Home-Folder-iconitis.

In particular this time, before I noticed that the icon was there again, iTunes and Finder were Not Responding (beachball) *after I plugged in my iPod*. On the iPod, the "Do Not Disconnect" warning would not go away and the iPod would not show up in iTunes.

Arrrrrrrrrrgghh! This is fucked up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
Check your Users folder and make sure that your User has the proper icons on it, and that all your documents and data are up to date
About this FFL, Get Info for my Home Folder in Macintosh HD>Users>Home gives Kind: Alias and Size: 0KB. The icon on the desktop gives Kind: Volume and Size: 47.72GB. Uh oh... That's not right is it?

Can I move the Home Folder from the desktop into my Users Folder (after I mess with the permissions)?

I've post this on the Apple Discussion boards (link)->

(I went through the hassle of finding the booklet that came with my PB and phoning up AppleCare, only to give over loads of personal information and have the lady tell me my 90 days phone cover has run out... duh! What was I thinking - one year of free AppleCare does not mean one year of free phone cover too)

bouncy bouncy

Last edited by SonOfSylvanus : 2004-05-24 at 10:44.
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FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-24, 11:09

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
I don't fucking believe it. The fucking Home Folder icon is back already! ALREADY!

I think it *must* be to do with the LaCie: two back-ups, two instances of Home-Folder-iconitis.

In particular this time, before I noticed that the icon was there again, iTunes and Finder were Not Responding (beachball) *after I plugged in my iPod*. On the iPod, the "Do Not Disconnect" warning would not go away and the iPod would not show up in iTunes.

Arrrrrrrrrrgghh! This is fucked up.


About this FFL, Get Info for my Home Folder in Macintosh HD>Users>Home gives Kind: Alias and Size: 0KB. The icon on the desktop gives Kind: Volume and Size: 47.72GB. Uh oh... That's not right is it?

Can I move the Home Folder from the desktop into my Users Folder (after I mess with the permissions)?

I've post this on the Apple Discussion boards (link)->
Hmm. The behavior you're describing is more or less supporting my initial theory. I think you must have used the CCC for cloning your Home folder again. DON"T do that again.... from now on, just drag your home folder to your backup drive and let the Finder copy it.

Shut Down, disconnect the La Cie, and then try the Get Info again on your internal HD's Home folder. If it's OK, then it's time to repeat the steps from above, to wipe out the La Cie, and don't use CCC at least for the time being.
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SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 11:27

Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
Hmm. The behavior you're describing is more or less supporting my initial theory. I think you must have used the CCC for cloning your Home folder again. DON"T do that again.... from now on, just drag your home folder to your backup drive and let the Finder copy it.

Shut Down, disconnect the La Cie, and then try the Get Info again on your internal HD's Home folder. If it's OK, then it's time to repeat the steps from above, to wipe out the La Cie, and don't use CCC at least for the time being.
OK, I won't use CCC the next time I back-up. See if that is the culprit. Drag-'n'-Drop from now on. By the way, the LaCie is almost always disconnected - it is only connected when I back-up. I'm not sure how the PB can get "confused" if the LaCie is hardly ever plugged in.

I've just re-started, zapping the PRAM as I did so - so the icon is gone now (feels like its an evil spirit lurking just beyond sight though). I'll repair permissions (Disk Util) and do the 3 maintenance scripts (MacJanitor) in a bit, just for fun.

But Get Info on my Home Folder in My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me still says Kind: Alias Size: 0Kb. Is that normal? What does yours say? If my Home Folder is not in Users, wtf is it?! haha


bouncy bouncy
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-24, 13:40

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus

But Get Info on my Home Folder in My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me still says Kind: Alias Size: 0Kb. Is that normal? What does yours say? If my Home Folder is not in Users, wtf is it?! haha
Based on the path above, your Home folder should not be IN your "Me" folder, it should BE your "Me" folder, that is in your Users folder. Barring that little miscommunication, here's what I'm wondering... if your Home folder isn't on your Hard Drive, then where is your data for your email, iCal, Address Book, etc? Where is your iTunes Library? etc.
/me hates remote troubleshooting, I'm an onsite expert...
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SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 14:47

Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
Based on the path above, your Home folder should not be IN your "Me" folder, it should BE your "Me" folder, that is in your Users folder. Barring that little miscommunication, here's what I'm wondering... if your Home folder isn't on your Hard Drive, then where is your data for your email, iCal, Address Book, etc? Where is your iTunes Library? etc.
/me hates remote troubleshooting, I'm an onsite expert...
Yeah, sorry "Me" = my "Home Folder"
My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me says Kind: Alias, Size: 0Kb
So the Home Folder in my Users Folder is apparently an Alias! Huh?

When I search for all folders named "Me" (command-F, "Name = Me" "Visibility = Visible and Invisible"), I get 4 results:

1) Macintosh HD>Volumes>.com.apple.FileVault>Me
2) Me>Library>Application Support>Army Operations 2.0.0>System>Users>Me
3) Me
4) Macintosh HD>Library>Logs>Console>Me

Number 3) is meant to be my Home Folder - it has my Home Folder icon (the FileVault icon) and is at the root of 2). Yet when I click on it, the pane at the bottom of the search window gives no path...

Should the path for my Home Folder (Me) be

My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me

or

My Computer>Me

or

Me

or

Something else?

bouncy bouncy
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 14:52

When I Get Info on search result 3) I get Kind: Volume, Where: My Computer, Used: 47.73GB etc, all the right information for my Home Folder.

This "Me", then, cannot be the same Me that is My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me because that Me is Kind: Alias, Size: 0Kb.

I'm confused.

Oh, one thing does look out of place in the Get Info for 3) - Modified: Thursday May 6 2004. Errr... Surely My Home Folder is being modified all the time. I backed-up using CCC this morning, I downloaded some music yesterday and I edited a file just now - surely that all counts as modifying? Can you check your HD to see when it was modified?

bouncy bouncy
  quote
Wickers
is not a kind of basket
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-24, 15:11

Wow... and here I thought OSX keeps their home folders in the /home directory, just like most unix-like OSs.
like so...
/home/jonathon
where jonathon is my user name and home folder name.

no sig, how's that for being a rebel!

Last edited by Wickers : 2004-05-24 at 17:38.
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-24, 16:52

try examining your home folder on your internal hard drive WITHOUT the La Cie plugged in. You shouldn't see the Home icon on the desktop if the La Cie is not plugged in.

Quote:
Should the path for my Home Folder (Me) be
My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me
YES.

There HAS to be something there, besides just an alias - otherwise, you would have no Mail, iTunes, iCal, Address Book data, except when the La Cie is hooked up.

Besides doing a Get Info, have you tried opening it?

Again, all of this is with the La Cie disconnected
  quote
VOX BARBARA
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-24, 17:01

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
... I backed-up using CCC this morning, ...
you've promised not to do
kinda twisted
do you have other users created, that show the same behavior?

Ok, i still don't get it why you use ccc for backing up. Though you can drag your entire home folder to another volume or drive. Btw, if you merely want to back up your user settings on occasion, than just drag your ~/ library folder to your Lacie whatever.

Well, back to your home issue. Two possibilities flash into my mind.
1.
Create a new user, give him admin rights, copy the content of your "me" home folder (that one with 47.72GB) into the new one. log out, log into the new user account, NOW delete the obsolete user. don't use ccc for backing up, just use ccc for creating a bootable X cd and such.

2.
back up your data, reformat, ... but i think 1. will do the job

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-24, 17:32

Quote:
Originally Posted by VOX BARBARA
you've promised not to
D00d! Heh. Time Stamps! I backed-up using CCC this morning (GMT+1) and promised not to do so again this afternoon - after I had read FFL's post. Haha! - Twisted... funny. Heh.

FFL The LaCie has never been plugged in when the mystery Home icon has been on the desktop Just to make that clear. The LaCie has only been plugged into my PB for a few hours of its lifetime - during back-ups. Its default state is *not* plugged in. So all the behaviour I have reported is with the LaCie *not* plugged in. This is why I am dismissive of the "confused" theory.

So My Computer>Macintosh HD>Users>Me is the correct place for my Home Folder. Well, as of now, Get Info says that "Me" at that destination is an Alias of 0Kb, though double-clicking on it opens my Home Folder and brings up a Finder window as I would expect it to do. Both the other users in the Users Folder ("Shared" and "Somebody") give Get Info's of Kind: Folder and Sizes:8Kb and 40Kb (they're unused).

VOX, I will only create a new user if all else fails. Plus, I want to get to the bottom of this. Where is my Home Folder? Can you guys find any clues from my Search Results for "Me" (scroll up).

Thanks for your continued help and patience. To bed.


bouncy bouncy
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-24, 19:45

OK, so the Home Folder on the Desktop is there whether or not the LaCie is plugged in - sorry, I wasn't getting that before.

What happens when you open the Desktop folder in your Home folder - does the Home folder appear there? With all its contents?

It will either require netinfo tinkering (which I'm not the most expert in), or VOX' suggestion of creating a new user. You might have to copy your Home folder contents into Shared, in order to get them into the new user.
  quote
VOX BARBARA
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-25, 03:21

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
D00d! Heh. Time Stamps! I backed-up using CCC this morning (GMT+1) and promised not to do so again this afternoon - after I had read FFL's post. Haha! - Twisted... funny. Heh.
Hihihi

Quote:
... Where is my Home Folder? Can you guys find any clues from my Search Results for "Me" (scroll up).
From your search results, your home folder is placed on root level and an alias of your home folder is placed in the user folder. It is an oddity, which i have never experienced before, sic, and i can not explain it either. Frankly, i strictly recommend to create a new user to get rid of that ...er... weirdness.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-25, 06:50

*sigh*

So you're both saying to create a new user. OK. I'll attempt that tonite. Gotta do some revision now. Will report back later. Thanks.

(root 0wnz all my base )

Edit: Just thinking though... I can't really create a new User and just copy everything across because my PB has a HD capacity of 80GB and my Home Folder is ~50GB... Therefore, I can't make a copy on the same machine.

I have to copy Home to the LaCie (eek!) by drag-n-drop in the Finder , and then delete my current Home folder from a new Admin account, then copy from the LaCie to the new Admin account... eek!

bouncy bouncy

Last edited by SonOfSylvanus : 2004-05-25 at 06:57.
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-25, 09:03

Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus
*sigh*

So you're both saying to create a new user. OK. I'll attempt that tonite. Gotta do some revision now. Will report back later. Thanks.

(root 0wnz all my base )

Edit: Just thinking though... I can't really create a new User and just copy everything across because my PB has a HD capacity of 80GB and my Home Folder is ~50GB... Therefore, I can't make a copy on the same machine.
well, if you are the Terminal type, there is always the mv command.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus

I have to copy Home to the LaCie (eek!) by drag-n-drop in the Finder , and then delete my current Home folder from a new Admin account, then copy from the LaCie to the new Admin account... eek!
no, you don't DELETE your Home folder - you can't and don't want to. Nor do you delete the individual folders like Documents, Desktop, Library, etc.

What you do, is, replace all the contents of those folders, with the contents of your "original" folder of the same name.
  quote
SonOfSylvanus
Fro Productions(tm)
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London Town
 
2004-05-25, 11:36

Quote:
Originally Posted by FFL
no, you don't DELETE your Home folder - you can't and don't want to. Nor do you delete the individual folders like Documents, Desktop, Library, etc.

What you do, is, replace all the contents of those folders, with the contents of your "original" folder of the same name.


(Shit!) Haha! Of course. What was I talking about. I don't need to copy or delete. I know this! (Really... I'm not as dumb as I'm making myself sound). I'm tired and stressed... that's my excuse.

Will try and will report back later (or tomorrow - see: tired and stressed).

Thanks

bouncy bouncy
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