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Q: Changed Startup Disk, need info on Finder

First issue: I am stuck with this system, cannot afford any upgrades.

 

Second issue is just a request for information.

 

The now-five-years-old internal HD started to show signs of instability (struggled with backups via SuperDuper etc). So I assigned Startup Disk to one of three external HDs (two 500G, one 160G (I am unable to edit my gear profile here for some reason)).

 

First time I'd done this, and everything appears to work fine.

 

I noticed that I needed to replace the Aliases in the Dock, so that apps would launch from the Startup Disk and all work going forward gets done here. I'm content to never access the internal HD again (it's old and too small at its max 160G size).

 

I further noticed that the Finder and Dashboard aliases are not replaceable as I did the above alias swaps. Is the fact that I've changed the Startup Disk enough to ensure that the Finder is operating on the new Startup and not the old, dying internal HD? Or am I misunderstanding the procedure to begin with?

 

Just want to completely bypass the internal without disconnecting it outright. Just trying to confirm if I am already doing that.

 

Am I missing anything basic?

 

Thanx in advance.

Power Mac G4 PPC, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 667 MHz / 160G int / 160G ext / 1.5G RAM / DSL

Posted on Feb 6, 2012 2:37 PM

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Q: Changed Startup Disk, need info on Finder

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 12:28 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 12:28 PM in response to gd0

    What Kind of file(s) exactly?

     

    Does a Get info say they're Aliases, or located on the Internal?

     

    On the App that opens them in the Dock Right click & choose show in Finder... is that App on the Internal drive as far as location?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 1:13 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 1:13 PM in response to BDAqua

    1. Any work file, whether existing or newly-created (including the attachment below). Seemingly everything: Preview, Photoshop, Quark, Acrobat.

     

    2. In my (self-made) Projects Folder, I did a quick random Get Info on several files and folders. All of them ID as original files, and their location is in the correct Startup Disk. Which is as it should be. Quick history: the last time I did a backup, it was from the internal each to the three externals. Afterwards, I assigned one of them as the Startup Disk - and it shows up appropriately at this time. And all Dock items were swapped out to accommodate.

     

    3. Dock: yes, the app that newly appears when double-clicking a file is shown to be on the internal drive. The same app that permanently resides on the Dock is correctly shown to be on the Startup Disk. Detail: see attachment. Not sure if this is relevant, but Show In Finder does not reveal a visible path back to the source HD; I have to do a Get Info to find that out. I've been monitoring this all along, same results.

     

    grab.jpg

  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 1:23 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 1:23 PM in response to gd0

    OK, take one of those files that open an App on the Internal drive, do a Get
    Info>Open with>Other, (even if it says the right App, I think it's pointing to that App on the Internal), after choosing Other find the correct App on the External you're booted from, select it then Change all...

     

    Do those tpe docs now open in the external App in the Dock?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 2:23 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 2:23 PM in response to BDAqua

    OK, I did the Open With Other, Change All on an existing Acrobat file and a TextEdit file.

     

    But they still open from the internal HD.

     

    I even re-re-set those files and did a reboot. Same result.

     

     

    Additional: sometimes - but not always - booting up seems a little twitchy. Display blacks out briefly, intermittently. And/or, occasionally at the beginning, I'll get a very brief (one cycle) Apple Face / question mark. And/or it takes a little longer than usual to finish. With just a couple exceptions, it winds up opening the correct current desktop, running off the recently assigned Startup.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 2:30 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 2:30 PM in response to gd0

    On the external drive, open the Applications folder, then drop say a text file on Text Edit there... does it open from the external drive?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 2:44 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 2:44 PM in response to BDAqua

    It still opens from the internal HD.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 2:49 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 2:49 PM in response to gd0

    ???

     

    And the external Apps are indeed on the external drive?

     

    You mean the Text Edit that is open, says it's on the Internal drive???

     

    If you just double click on TE on the external, does it still say Internal?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 3:07 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 3:07 PM in response to BDAqua

    ???, indeed.

     

    The external Apps are located on the correct external drive.

     

    The TextEdit file, when moved to the external (Startup) drive, is shown to be on that drive, whether opened or closed. Specifically: "Where: /Volumes/(my-startup-drive-name)/Applications"

     

    Launching TE from Applications within the external reveals it to correctly be there. Same when closed.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 3:38 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 3:38 PM in response to gd0

    And dropping the Internal TE file on the external TE App still opens the internal TE App?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 3:55 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 3:55 PM in response to BDAqua

    I think I didn't understand your instruction last time.

     

    Dragged the TextEdit file and dropped it directly on the App file, and yes, it does open in the Startup Disk appropriately. Also dragged it to the Dock and it opened appropriately.

     

    Also tried another file type (Acrobat), and it opened appropriately.

     

    (Apologies, never saw that method of opening a file before.)

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 4:13 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 4:13 PM in response to gd0

    Whew... let me call the mental hospital back & tell them I don't need them to come pick me up anymore!

     

    So, where are we now?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 4:16 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 4:16 PM in response to gd0

    Ok, let's try an experiment, boot from the Internal drive, do the Get Info/Change all, but point it to the Other APP for it on the external, reboot off the external, double click on one of those files on the Internal, does it open on the external APP?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 4:40 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 4:40 PM in response to BDAqua

    The nice men are here to help you...

     

    Uhhh... I think we're back on Page 1.

     

    A little over a week ago, I did my last backup. From the 5-yr-old internal HD to three external backups. More accurately, I did one very troublesome backup from internal to one external HD, and backed up the other two externals from that one external. (SuperDuper)

     

    At that point, I figured the internal was failing, so I reassigned the Startup Disk from the internal HD to one of three externals. With no more effort than doing so in System Preferences.

     

    Since then, double-clicking existing project files - from anywhere - launches its App from the internal HD.

     

    Files and Apps appear to be properly ID'd and located (both in the HD and Dock).

     

    Your drag-n-drop method of opening files works properly. After my last message, I finished your instructions: I dragged an internal file to its external App and it opened properly.

     

    Additionally, booting, or Restart, has on a few occasions resulted in a desktop that appears to be 1 week or so old. I'm guessing this is related to the time I reassigned Startup. It kind of looks like the internal is trying to be the Startup, even if it's not supposed to be. Rebooting corrects that - for now.

     

    I'm looking to either create correct operation and/or completely bypass the dying(?) internal. I don't know enough to know if the interference of of a failing internal can cause unexpected problems elsewhere. Is it possible that there must be an operable internal HD in place regardless of Startup Disk?

     

    Or is there more to reassigning Startup Disk than is readily apparent... ?

  • by gd0,

    gd0 gd0 Feb 13, 2012 4:44 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 4:44 PM in response to BDAqua

    Ok, let's try an experiment, boot from the Internal drive, do the Get Info/Change all, but point it to the Other APP for it on the external, reboot off the external, double click on one of those files on the Internal, does it open on the external APP?

     

    I'm a little hesitant on that, but will do on your say-so, after you rummage through my prior response above.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 13, 2012 5:01 PM in response to gd0
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Feb 13, 2012 5:01 PM in response to gd0

    It should be able to skip the internal drive completely as far as I know.

     

    If you're hesitant about my last suggestion... 2 more that may give us a clue...

     

    In Finder's Menu, select Go menu>Go to Folder, and go to "/volumes". (no quotes)

     

    Volumes is where an alias to your hard drive ("/" at boot) is placed at startup, and where all the "mount points" for auxiliary drives are created for you to access them. This folder is normally hidden from view.

     

    Drives with an extra 1 on the end have a side-effect of mounting a drive with the same name as the system already think exists. Try trashing the duplicates with a 1 or 2 if there are no real files in them, and reboot.

     

    If it does contain data...

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2474

     

    The other one is to look at fork data not normally seen.

     

    Get HexEdit and open that file for a look...

     

    http://hexedit.sourceforge.net/

     

    Open one of those say... txt files that wishes to open on the internal, or drop it on HexEdit's icon, under it's File menu choose Edit other Fork... if it warns you that it doesn't have another fork then exit/cancel, & forget this angle, if it does open a Window to this other fork look for the internal drive's name and app... just report, do not edit.

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