How to restore mach_kernel after I deleted it? OS 10.5.8

Question

How to restore mach_kernel after I deleted it? OS 10.5.8

Hi all,

I stupidly deleted the mach_kernel file and didn't realise its importance until I started the laptop up to find it would not reboot. I am running 10.5.8. I have been advised that in theory the deleted file should still be sitting in my recycle bin, is that right? If this is the case can I connect my hard drive to another computer and simply drag and drop it back to its location. Will this work and then allow me to start up the mac as normal.

Any help that can be passed over would be much appreciated. I am a computer and for that matter mac novice and I'm not being modest so please go easy.

Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jan 17, 2014 12:26 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,923 points

Jan 17, 2014 1:01 PM in response to Radishhartley

If you haven't emptied the Trash, it'll still be there. Connect your computer to another Mac with a FireWire cable, start it up with the T key held down, open your home folder on it, choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu, provide .Trash as the path, and drag the file back.

(98094)

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Answer 2

Jan 17, 2014 1:53 PM in response to Radishhartley

If you dragged it to the Trash and your Mac has not been corrupted or modified it should still be there. However if you deleted it via a Terminal command it will have been permanently lost.

You may need to use something like the following in 'Go to Folder':

/Volumes/volume-name/Users/user-name/.Trash/

Please return here if you have any difficulties.

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Answer 3

Jan 17, 2014 4:28 PM in response to Neville Hillyer

Thank you Neville. I would have right clicked and sent to trash or dragged it to the bin with the mouse. Not sure if either of those constitute a terminal command. I hope not!

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Answer 4

Jan 17, 2014 4:30 PM in response to Niel

I will give this a go and hope it works. When I connect to another computer does it have to be a mac or would a PC work? Thank you for your help.

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Answer 5

Niel

Level 10

726,923 points

Jan 17, 2014 4:37 PM in response to Radishhartley

It basically needs to be a Mac.

(98121)

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Answer 6

Jan 17, 2014 4:40 PM in response to Niel

Niel, just realised I do not have a FireWire port but I do have an Ethernet port. Can I connect Ethernet to USB or FireWire port? My computer that has the missing mach_kernel is a samsung notebook NC10.

Thanks.

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Answer 7

Niel

Level 10

726,923 points

Jan 17, 2014 4:42 PM in response to Radishhartley

This can't be done through Ethernet, as that requires a working OS. If the computer will boot to Single User mode, you can use that. If not, you'll need to use a different system.

(98122)

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Answer 8

Jan 17, 2014 5:11 PM in response to Niel

Sorry but I'm sure a very basic question, how could I test whether I can boot it in single user mode?

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Answer 9

Niel

Level 10

726,923 points

Jan 17, 2014 5:16 PM in response to Radishhartley

Press the Command and S keys at startup.

(98126)

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Answer 10

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Jan 17, 2014 5:17 PM in response to Radishhartley

Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup.

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Answer 11

Jan 18, 2014 2:21 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:

Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup.

I gave up trying to make this logical point several years ago. People tend to describe keys by what is written on them rather than by what they produce. The most confusing exception is the Apple option key which has alt written on it.

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Answer 12

Jan 18, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Niel

Niel wrote:

Press the Command and S keys at startup.

Have you tried this with a missing mach_kernel ?

I have been experimenting;

I used Invisibility Toggler
dragged mach_kernel to Trash
restarted holding cmd s

The result was that it ignored my normal boot volume and booted into another one. Thereafter only option key at start or OS 9 would allow me to select the volume with a missing mach_kernel but each time it started in the wrong volume. After several experiments I logged into another volume as root and returned mach_kernel. All corrected now.

I have multiple volumes and am not sure what happens with only one volume.

I will investigate further but there may not be a simple practical answer for the OP.

I would like to know how the OP was able to move an invisible item to the Trash in the first place.

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