User/Library/Application Support folder empty

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User/Library/Application Support folder empty

I had to hard restart because of a frozen screen. Could not force anything to quit. iWeb was open at the time. On restart, my iweb came up asking for a Domain account as though there was never one created.

I checked my home folder/Library/Application Support - it is completely empty! Nada! What the hey?! I pulled a Domain.sites.2 file from an external drive and clicked it, and it started fine (from my last save point several days ago).

I opened "Backup.app" and it opened in default mode as though I had never set up a backup. Only yesterday morning it had automatically backed up my Home Folder and my Personal Settings - now nothing?

I clicked on the most recent iLife backup file on external - it would not open. Ditto with the last Home Folder backup file. Ran Permissions and it corrected a Library file, but that didn't help.

reset PRAM (two bells) still no files. LIbrary/Application Support is completely empty. Any ideas.

G4 Powerbook 17"; G4 350, Mac OS X (10.4.11), PowerPC 6200 CD; 540C; 270C; Classic

Posted on Aug 25, 2009 9:53 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

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Aug 25, 2009 10:18 PM in response to ddyer

It sounds like some Hard Disk Corruption.

First see if this happenned...

Return to default desktop, apparent "loss" of home directory...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107854

Could be many things, but it's best to start with these two steps, which may fix it also...

"Try Disk Utility

1. Insert the Tiger Mac OS X Install disc , then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, *you must select your language first.)*
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."

Then Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.

Safe Boot... holding Shift key down at bootup. Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392

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Answer 2

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 9:23 AM in response to BDAqua

That was useful info for diagnosing, though I'm still looking at a default home folder. My address book is empty, and apps are in default mode. The HFS volume passed and the permissions were okay in safe mode and regular mode.

I have backups on external drives. How can I restore to my current home folder? When I start Backup it is also in default and shows no files to restore from.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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Aug 26, 2009 10:39 AM in response to ddyer

How many users are there in the Users folder, and what size are they?

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Answer 4

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 11:03 AM in response to BDAqua

Essentially there's only one user. There is a duplicate name for that user entitled "User 1" that has been there for quite some time but it isn't used and has little content. I'm the only user, and I sign in just fine. The Home Folder still shows up. It still has some stuff in it, like mail, photos, music etc. Weird. The folder wasn't emptied, just select user items were zapped.

What I could use help with is getting the Home Folder backup that I can see on my external drive to simply restore. I dragged those files from the external to 'Backup' but when I click the "restore" button I get nada. What am I doing wrong?

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Answer 5

BDAqua

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Aug 26, 2009 11:32 AM in response to ddyer

I assume this is Apple's Backup APP?

I don't know much about how that works except that it didn't work the way I needed it to. 😟

Is Backup the only way to see these Files/folders?

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Answer 6

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 12:02 PM in response to BDAqua

Short answer yes. I clone my hard drive about every three months alternately on two separate externals. I also use idisk to backup personal settings and data regularly. I have a copy of super duper on the machine but haven't used it. Backup "seemed to do what I needed.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

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Aug 26, 2009 12:17 PM in response to ddyer

Does it tell you what size the backups are?

Does this help...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1900443&tstart=0

And after reading this...

http://www.paulstimesink.com/post/2007/08/11/restore-from-apple-backup-backups/

See if they can be mounted in Disk Utility if Terminal is not for you.

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Answer 8

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 4:09 PM in response to BDAqua

Sure. The incremental and full backups have sizes, though i should add that I'm using version 3.1.2 for Tiger. Backup images don't show up in Disk Utility. I can click on them on the external drive but get an error message that they can't be opened. When I open the backup app., the panes are completely empty, and I can't seem to populate them manually with files from the external.

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Answer 9

BDAqua

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Aug 26, 2009 5:50 PM in response to ddyer

Hmmm, have you run Disk Utility to Verify or Repair the external HD?

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Answer 10

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 7:00 PM in response to BDAqua

Absolutely, and I appreciate your tenacity with this. Permissions are fine in regular and safe mode. HD checks okay in regular and safe mode. I may have to go to the genius bar and beg for help. I have triple redundancy on my backups, I just can't get them to kick in. There has to be a way of dragging them to some folder in my user library or other such folder, then simply restoring from them.

Even trying to start from a cloned drive isn't working.

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Answer 11

BDAqua

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239,267 points

Aug 26, 2009 7:07 PM in response to ddyer

I'm amazed you can't mount the DMGs, if that is what they are.

Even trying to start from a cloned drive isn't working.

Hmmm, sounds like some deeper problem here, but at a distance it's hard to tell at this point, I think te Genius Bar is a good idea... good luck! 🙂

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Answer 12

ddyer Author

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Aug 26, 2009 7:38 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks again....

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Answer 13

ddyer Author

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Sep 6, 2009 12:02 PM in response to ddyer

After 6 hours at the Genius Bar wiping my HD and doing a complete reinstall (thank goodness for backups daily) and another 6 hours at home reconfiguring preferences, loading software, etc., I'm back in business. Seems to me Apple has a lot more software and hardware issues than when I got hooked 25 years ago.

Anyway, this problem is solved via major surgery.

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