Strange DiskWarrior error with 10.5.3

Question

Strange DiskWarrior error with 10.5.3

I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem. After upgrading to 10.5.3, DiskWarrior will not fully lunch. It asks for my password, starts to launch and then tells me that my com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior prefs file is corrupt or write protected. It then tells me trash it from my library/preferences folder. But that prefs file does not exist anywhere on any of my three startup disks. So, I can't trash it and DW won't run. I've written to Alsoft on this. It started after the 105.3 upgrade. Anybody else experience this?

MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, Sony Vaio, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on May 31, 2008 9:48 PM

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Answer 1

scb

Level 5

5,388 points

May 31, 2008 10:09 PM in response to BoySetsTheFire

Can you start from the DW disk?

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Answer 2

KJK555

Level 4

2,900 points

Jun 1, 2008 12:30 AM in response to BoySetsTheFire

com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior preferences file resides in /Library/Preferences directory.

Check permissions on DW. There should be no ACL's attached either.

Check parent directory /Applications/Utilities for extra ACL's (ls -el /Applications).
should only be:
drwxrwxr-x+ 37 root admin 1258 Jun 1 01:49 Utilities
0: group:everyone deny delete (only this ACL should be there)

DW permissions should look like this (ls -el /applications/utilities):
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Dec 31 16:34 DiskWarrior.app
(No Acl's should be present)

If you believe anything is missing or corrupt with DW, trash it and reinstall.

If you find ACL troubles, run a search on some of previous posts, you should find a solution.

Kj

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Answer 3

Jun 1, 2008 6:01 AM in response to KJK555

Thanks for the replies. No, I cannot start up from the DW disk, as my MacBookPro is brand new and Alsoft is waiting for Apple to release startup files.

KJK555, as stated earlier, the preference file simply does not exist anywhere on my drives. I checked the preference folders in both library directories (library/preferences and user/library/preferences) on each of my startup drives. I did a search with spotlight and a finder search. Aside from the DW application, there are no files containing the word Alsoft or Diskwarrior.

I did a get info on DW and I have read/write permission.

I have trashed DW and reinstalled from the CD - problem persist.

You write,

<Check parent directory /Applications/Utilities for extra ACL's (ls -el /Applications).
should only be:
drwxrwxr-x+ 37 root admin 1258 Jun 1 01:49 Utilities
0: group:everyone deny delete (only this ACL should be there)

DW permissions should look like this (ls -el /applications/utilities):
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Dec 31 16:34 DiskWarrior.app
(No Acl's should be present)>

Can you tell me how to do this? Thanks again for the prompt replies.

Message was edited by: BoySetsTheFire

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Answer 4

KJK555

Level 4

2,900 points

Jun 1, 2008 7:45 PM in response to BoySetsTheFire

If DW was working okay before 10.5.3 upgrade, then most likely something went haywire.

Reinstall 10.5.3 using the combo update and see if that doesn't fix your troubles.

Be sure DW is version 4.1 (CD rev. 42).

Kj

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Answer 5

Jun 1, 2008 8:44 PM in response to KJK555

Problem solved. Your earlier post keyed me in to the fact that while I had repaired the disk with DU, I had not repaired permissions. I ran DU to repair permissions and it found the corrupted pref, which was not visible in the finder. DU repaired that pref and I also ran it for the prefs on my other startup drives. Once repaired, DW asked for my Serial No and then ran fine after that.

BTW, I would still like to know how to search for those prefs and ACLs you mentioned erlier, if you have time.

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Answer 6

KJK555

Level 4

2,900 points

Jun 4, 2008 3:54 PM in response to BoySetsTheFire

Glad to have helped.

There is a terminal (terminal.app) command that
will help you find ACL's. It is:
ls -el

There is a free GUI program called SandBox that will aid you in changing or fixing ACL's.

Generally ACL problems will show up in DU, however User directory ACL problems won't.

The good news is since 10.5.2 Acl's haven't caused the problems like 10.5 and 10.5.1 did.

You can search my previous posts for loads of info on ACL's and permissions and their associated
terminal commands.

Apple server documentation section has very good info on ACL's and permissions and using
the command line (Terminal).

Kj

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Answer 7

onetb

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2008 7:55 AM in response to BoySetsTheFire

Could you be slightly more specific about the fix. I repaired permissions, but was still unable to see the .prefs file in /Library/Preferences. After repairing permissions in DU, what should my next step be?

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