docfi

Q: How can I hide the "home" and "net" volumes in mountain lion

I have a MacBook Pro that I updated to Mt. Lion.  The home and net volumes are now visible in the Finder at the root level.  They contain 0 bytes of data.  How can I make them invisible?

Posted on Jul 4, 2013 1:01 PM

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Q: How can I hide the "home" and "net" volumes in mountain lion

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 4, 2013 1:07 PM in response to docfi
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2013 1:07 PM in response to docfi

    Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder and enter the following:

     

    sudo chflags hidden /home

    sudo chflags hidden /net

     

    Press RETURN after each line. You will be prompted to enter your admin password after the first line. It will not be echoed to the screen. Press RETURN again.

  • by docfi,

    docfi docfi Jul 4, 2013 4:33 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (79 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 4, 2013 4:33 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

     

    Thanks, but I get an "Operation not supported" message.  I tried it a couple of times.

     

    Jon

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 4, 2013 4:51 PM in response to docfi
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2013 4:51 PM in response to docfi

    Used to work, but it does not work here, either. The bit that needs to be changed must now require using a different command that I don't know.

     

    You might try downloading BatChmod and using it to fix the flags.

  • by LowLuster,

    LowLuster LowLuster Jul 4, 2013 5:24 PM in response to docfi
    Level 6 (12,074 points)
    Jul 4, 2013 5:24 PM in response to docfi

    Turn off Show All Files. These are noramlly hidden system folders and only displayed, but in a greyed out color, if you have enabled Show All Files.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 4, 2013 5:29 PM in response to LowLuster
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2013 5:29 PM in response to LowLuster

    That's a good idea, but incorrect as it applies to these two folders. They occasionally lose their invisibility after system upgrades or updates. Your suggestion would work if every invisible file on the computer had suddenly turned visible although that's unlikely to happen without a user interaction.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 4, 2013 5:49 PM in response to docfi
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2013 5:49 PM in response to docfi

    Sometimes it takes me a while to remember this stuff. The issue is that these invisible folders are actually symlinks and not real folders. They behave differently. Here's something that used to work and may still:

     

    Open Terminal in the Utilities folder:


    cd /
    nano .hidden

    Press RETURN after each line. In the editor listing enter, one line each, home and net. CTRL+O to save the file. Now log out and log back in or restart. The files should be invisible.

    Beyond this requires downloading the XTools in order to use one developer tool not included with OS X.

  • by docfi,

    docfi docfi Jul 4, 2013 7:42 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (79 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 4, 2013 7:42 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

     

    Not sure if I did this correctly, but the home and net volumes are still visible.

     

    I got to the editor, typed "home" hit Return, typed "net" then hit control+O.

     

    After that I logged out then back in.

     

    Maybe I should reload Mt. Lion.  Do you think that would help?

     

    Thank you.

     

    Jon

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 4, 2013 9:06 PM in response to docfi
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2013 9:06 PM in response to docfi

    Well, that used to work. Guess not any more. What you might do instead of reinstalling Mountain Lion is to reinstall the Mountain Lion 10.8.4 combo updater and see if that fixes it (oh, and delete the .hidden file you created in the previous exercise.)

     

    Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1

  • by docfi,

    docfi docfi Jul 5, 2013 7:30 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (79 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 5, 2013 7:30 AM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

     

    Installed the combo update to no avail.  Going to reinstall Mountain Lion and see what happens.  Will report back.

     

    Thank you.

     

    Jon

  • by docfi,

    docfi docfi Jul 9, 2013 6:43 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (79 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 9, 2013 6:43 AM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

     

    Ended up wiping the drive and re-instaling the OS.  Was fairly painless as I was getting the laptop ready for sale, so no real accounts on it.  Had 10.8.4 on a bootable flash drive.

     

    Thank you for your suggestions!

     

    Jon

  • by LowLuster,

    LowLuster LowLuster Jul 9, 2013 6:54 AM in response to docfi
    Level 6 (12,074 points)
    Jul 9, 2013 6:54 AM in response to docfi

    If your Mac did not come from the factory with Mountain Lion preinstalled you can not sell it with that version of OS X installed on it. That version is Tied to Your Apple ID and not to the hardware and can not be transferred to another person.

     

    You must reinstall the original version of OS X on it before you sell it. The only other version of OS X that can be installed on it is one that you have the physical DVD install disk for and that upgrade DVD along with the original system DVD discs must be supplied with the the unit you are selling.

  • by zurich8000,

    zurich8000 zurich8000 May 16, 2016 10:44 AM in response to docfi
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 16, 2016 10:44 AM in response to docfi

    I had this probem as well after an upgrade of a very old version (Leopard).

     

    The solution is to be found in the /etc/auto_master configuration file.

     

    By default it looks like the following:

     

    #

    # Automounter master map

    #

    +auto_master        # Use directory service

    /net                -hosts       -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid

    /home               auto_home    -nobrowse,hidefromfinder

    /Network/Servers    -fstab

    /-                  -static

     

     

    Add the missing hidefromfinder parameter to the file and restart the computer.

     

    You must use sudo to do so, e.g.:

     

    sudo nano /etc/auto_master as an administrator.