DONT STEAL MAC OS X.KEXT

There are 2 of those kernel extensions
Macintosh HD/Library/Extensions/Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext
Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions/Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext
So perhaps you could copy the one to the other?

EDIT: But hopefully the re-install will re-install it?



-mj

Message was edited by: macjack

You're going to have to reinstall Snow Leopard. You should be able to install it right on top of your old copy, provided you immediately update it back to where you had it before... though how that missing kext will affect things, I don't know. It should just be replaced, but from the name, it's possible it may not be that simple. If it doesn't work, you'll just have to wipe the drive and reinstall fresh... and consider that a lesson in deleting system files.

copying the file to both locations didnt work as well.

That's intentional. The underlying UNIX system will not allow anyone to just copy a .kext (kernel extension) into the system. Way too easy for someone to add a rogue file at the base system level if it did. They have to be added through an installer so they are registered with the OS.

In this case, the system assumes you are trying to copy a malicious kernel extension into the system that you just gave the same name as one that's supposed to be there, in an attempt to fool it. It won't allow that.

by the way u guys sure about installing snow leopard right on top of the ex system wont damage my files n all that stuff? or maybe that will replace my system prefs n applications? cuz if it does, im rly finished.

The only reason it wouldn't work is if there were significant damage to the hard drive's file table. Then, something may go amiss. Otherwise, yes, you'll be fine. Boot to the Snow Leopard DVD and install the OS over itself. Just don't choose any option to erase the drive.

i mean does it format the volume that u are installing on automatically

No. You have to intentionally choose Erase and Install.

Installing on top of the existing system shouldn't mess up your files, but there's never a guarantee. Your hard drive could die in the middle of installation, for example. If you don't have backups, everything you do with your computer is dangerous.

If you have another Mac, you may want to try booting in [FireWire target mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] to copy your files from the affected drive first.

When you copied the "Dont Steal Mac OS X" package file back, the permissions might not have
gotten set correctly. Running permissions repair on the affected drive should fix it.

One method of avoiding permission problems when copying system files to their respective
directories is to use the terminal command "cp" to do it.
http://ss64.com/osx/cp.html
note: As of Mac OS X 10.4, the cp command preserves metadata and resource forks of files
on Extended HFS volumes, so it can be used in place of CpMac. The /usr/bin/CpMac
command will be deprecated in future versions of Mac OS X.

Sometimes fooling around with system files may require you to "bless" the boot volume again to get
her to start back up.
boot from your other partition (or system install) disk, open terminal, run the following command:
(from install dvd);
bless --folder /"Macintosh HD"/System/Library/CoreServices --bootefi

if from another bootable partition copy of OS X:
sudo bless --folder /Volumes/"Macintosh HD"/System/Library/CoreServices --bootefi

note: --bootinfo (PPC) option is not supported (needed) in SL. PPC code has been removed in SL.

type:
man bless
(in terminal, to see more info about bless command)

About your soundcard problem:
I had a similar problem. My card worked until I installed Security Update 2010-005. I only
got it working again by removing the update (fortunately I backed up before installing the
update and was able to restore easily). I don't know if that is your issue, but be aware that
occasionally an update may cause a hardware compatibility issue.

Kj