Etrecheck results and damaged Property List Data

Question

Etrecheck results and damaged Property List Data

In the past couple of weeks I have discovered several problems with my (mid-2010) iMac (System: OS X 10.9.4). First of all, Safari does not automatically open when I boot my computer. Although the computer appears to work alright otherwise, I then suddenly began having problems with it failing to scan documents from my HP L7780. Having a large project requiring the scanning of hundreds of documents, I’m at a standstill until I solve this problem.

Setup:

1. 120GB Internal SSD with OS X (10.9.4) used as main disk with frequently used applications and documents.

2. 1TB Internal Hard Disk with seldom used applications and documents.

3. 1TB External Hard Disk with two partitions:

A) Backup for 120GB Internal SSD,

B) Backup for 1TB internal Hard Disk. (The 1TB internal Hard Disk has only 124GB. Obviously, a much better setup would be to have just one 250GB internal SSD and one external backup for that drive.)

The problem appears to be with the software on the SSD and not the software on the internal hard drive.

Procedures taken:

1. Backed up SSD and reinstalled a fresh copy of OS X 10.9.4 via the Recovery partition using ⌘-R.

2. Attempted to Repair Disk Permissions on SSD again from the Recovery partition. Printout is extremely long.

3. Ran all the tests on TechTool Pro from the external backup. No problems found.

4. Ran all the tests on DiskWarrior from the DiskWarrior disk on both the internal Hard Disk and the internal SSD.

When I scanned the internal Hard Disk with DiskWarrior for files and folders for damage and potential compatibility, no problems were found.

Concerning the internal SSD, using DiskWarrior I had to rebuild the directory several times to (supposedly) completely repair the disk. When I scanned the internal SSD for files and folders for damage and potential compatibility I FOUND A LONG LIST OF PROBLEMS. I’m listing only two (of dozens) below:

******************** BEGINNING OF DISKWARRIOR REPORT ********************

DiskWarrior scanned the disk named "SSD" checking all files and folders for damage and potential compatibility

problems.!

!

Disk: "SSD"!

The Property List data was checked in 4,846 files.!

The Resource Data was checked in 4,623 files.!

The maximum Folder Depth on this disk is 20. This does not exceed the maximum recommended depth.!

Location: "Desktop"!

!

File: "._browserExtentionVersion.plist"!

Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.!

Unexpected character ! at line 1!

Location: "SSD/Users/danielbollhoefer/Library/Application Support/iSkysoft iTube Studio/ResourceForFree/5_0/

__MACOSX/50003/BrowserExtentsions/"!

!

File: "._Extensions.plist"!

Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.!

Unexpected character ! at line 1!

Location: "SSD/Users/danielbollhoefer/Library/Application Support/iSkysoft iTube Studio/ResourceForFree/5_0/

__MACOSX/50003/BrowserExtentsions/Safari/"!

******************** END OF ABBREVIATED DISKWARRIOR REPORT ********************

I realize that some of these files are invisible, however I do have InVisible 1.2.1. In checking out some invisible folders I find that they have a white minus sign on a red circle on the bottom right corner of the folder icon which means that (apparently) I do not have Sharing & Permissions for this folder.

QUESTION: So, how can I delete a damaged plist in this situation?

In addition, I ran an EtreCheck. Below is a copy of the report:

******************** BEGINNING OF ETRECHECK REPORT ********************

EtreCheck version: 1.9.13 (49)

Report generated August 13, 2014 at 11:39:27 AM EDT

Hardware Information: ?

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 0:13:33

Disk Information: ?

WDC WD10EARX-00PASB0 disk1 : (1 TB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Hard Disk (disk1s2) /Volumes/Hard Disk: 999.86 GB (875.11 GB free)

Samsung SSD 840 Series disk0 : (120.03 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

SSD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 119.04 GB (54.41 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

USB Information: ?

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

DYMO DYMO LabelWriter 450

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ?

[not loaded] com.dymo.usbprinterclassdriver.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.5) Support

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist Support

[running] com.dymo.pnpd.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist Support

Launch Agents: ?

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

User Login Items: ?

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Mail

Safari

xScan

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Internet Plug-ins: ?

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

DYMO NPAPI Addin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

DYMO Safari Addin: Version: (null) - SDK 10.5 Support

Safari Extensions: ?

iTube Studio (Disabled)

AdBlock-2 (Disabled)

Awesome Screenshot-2 (Disabled)

MapTricks

Audio Plug-ins: ?

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

iTunes Plug-ins: ?

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

TechTool Protection Support

Time Machine: ?

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ?

2% WindowServer

2% xScan

1% fontd

0% coreservicesd

0% hidd

Top Processes by Memory: ?

197 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

115 MB TextEdit

66 MB xScan

66 MB mds_stores

66 MB Safari

Virtual Memory Information: ?

13.34 GB Free RAM

1.27 GB Active RAM

225 MB Inactive RAM

1.17 GB Wired RAM

305 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

******************** END OF ETRECHECK REPORT ********************

When attempting to repair permissions in Disk First Aid, there are hundreds (thousands?) of entries stating that they have been repaired. However, when immediately repeating the test, I get the same report.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Aug 13, 2014 1:37 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Aug 13, 2014 2:43 PM in response to Community User

with frequently used applications

Your setup is unusual and not sure I'm following exactly, but I would start by moving ALL applications to the root Applications folder. If the SSD drive is not your boot drive then make it the boot drive.

It sounds like you have trying to mimic a fusion drive. I believe the issues are from moving files to locations that are not the default location.

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Correct. GateKeeper set to MAS and identified developers will stop you from running an app without your permission that could damage your computer.

Kernel Extensions: ?

[not loaded] com.dymo.usbprinterclassdriver.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.5) Support

Kernel Extensions: Stored in /Library/Extensions/

Kernel Extensions also load third party code, but they insert it into the 'core' of the OS. These can be safe, however you must ensure the related tools or apps are up to date. Remove them all & see if the OS works better.

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist Support

[running] com.dymo.pnpd.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist Support

Launch Agents: ?

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist Support

Do you really need TTP launching at startup. What about dymo?

These are all background jobs, they are not necessarily bad, but if they are loading old code it could be doing untold damage to the performance & stability of the entire OS.

User Launch Agents: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

These are in the User's Library.Google has had issues with Mavericks. Make sure it's updated and if possible I would disable or remove to see if that improves staiblity.

LaunchAgents - Stored in /Library/LaunchAgents

LaunchDaemons - Stored in /Library/LaunchDaemons

User LaunchAgents - Stored in ~/Library/LaunchAgents

Referenced Drew Reece on how to read Etrecheck in this discussion. Re: Your System has Run out of Application memory

You might find this article on Memory in Mavericks useful: Understanding Memory Pressure in OS X Mavericks

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Answer 2

Aug 13, 2014 2:50 PM in response to dianeoforegon

dianeoforegon, thank you for your prompt reply. I'll study your suggestions.

Reply

Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Aug 13, 2014 4:25 PM in response to Community User

Part of your problem is that you're being sandbagged by useless "utilities." "Disk Warrior" is only useful for recovering a damaged volume that Disk Utility can't repair, and for which you have no backups. If you have adequate backups, Disk Warrior is a complete waste of money. If you don't have backups, you're going to lose all your data eventually anyway, and Disk Warrior won't be able to save you. The output is irrelevant to the primary issue, which is not being able to scan.

As for "Tech Tool," it's of no use under any circumstances.

So I suggest you describe the original problem in more detail. What exactly happens when you try to scan?

Reply

Answer 4

etresoft

Level 9

56,990 points

Aug 13, 2014 5:20 PM in response to Community User

colimotl wrote:

1. 120GB Internal SSD with OS X (10.9.4) used as main disk with frequently used applications and documents.

2. 1TB Internal Hard Disk with seldom used applications and documents.

I don't think it is related to your problem, but just so you know, you should only run applications from the Applications folder. There are some low-level interactions between the system and software that may be broken if applications are installed elsewhere. I know this is true for help. It could be true about other things as well. If you need to, you can use the Applications folder in your home directory instead.

File: "._browserExtentionVersion.plist"!

Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.!

Unexpected character ! at line 1!

Location: "SSD/Users/danielbollhoefer/Library/Application Support/iSkysoft iTube Studio/ResourceForFree/5_0/

__MACOSX/50003/BrowserExtentsions/"!

!

File: "._Extensions.plist"!

Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.!

Unexpected character ! at line 1!

Location: "SSD/Users/danielbollhoefer/Library/Application Support/iSkysoft iTube Studio/ResourceForFree/5_0/

__MACOSX/50003/BrowserExtentsions/Safari/"!

******************** END OF ABBREVIATED DISKWARRIOR REPORT ********************

I realize that some of these files are invisible, however I do have InVisible 1.2.1. In checking out some invisible folders I find that they have a white minus sign on a red circle on the bottom right corner of the folder icon which means that (apparently) I do not have Sharing & Permissions for this folder.

QUESTION: So, how can I delete a damaged plist in this situation?

Those files are not damaged. Nor are the plist files. They are AppleDouble files meant for cross platform use on a non-Apple server or inside a zip file. They should never exist in this form on a Mac.

User Login Items: ?

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Mail

Safari

xScan

xScan

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Why do you have two xScans here? Try removing everything from Mail down and see if things work better.

When attempting to repair permissions in Disk First Aid, there are hundreds (thousands?) of entries stating that they have been repaired. However, when immediately repeating the test, I get the same report.

Don't worry about those: Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore

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Answer 5

Aug 18, 2014 5:49 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis,

Thank you for your suggestions. I was out of town last Thursday and have been playing catch up ever since. I'll try to be more explicit concerning my scanning problems within the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I discovered a work-around using HP's WebScan. The only problem there is that WebScan creates much larger files than I get using Preview.

DB

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Answer 6

Aug 18, 2014 6:09 AM in response to etresoft

Etresoft,

As I explained to Linc Davis, I was out of town last Thursday and am just now catching up with my emails. I AM IMPRESSED THAT ETRESOFT would respond to my question. Knowing how much time I invested in composing my post, I truly appreciate your time and effort to go through my post and address specific points. Quite honestly, I had never heard of "AppleDouble files meant for cross platform use on a non-Apple server or inside a zip file." Having used several diagnostic and repair programs, I'm not quite certain which solved some problems, but I no longer get a long list of Permission Repairs. And I am now able to drag and drop a file from the desktop onto my SSD without having a popup window asking for my password. Unlike some folks who have a very serious problem, my computer appears to work well and the SSD is very fast. My concern was that some of the corrupted files might cause a problem and/or I might lose some data. As for my scanning problems, I discovered a work-around using HP's WebScan. The only problem there is that WebScan creates much larger files than I get using Preview. Again, thank you for your help.

DB

Reply

Answer 7

etresoft

Level 9

56,990 points

Aug 18, 2014 10:06 AM in response to Community User

colimotl wrote:

Etresoft,

Having used several diagnostic and repair programs, I'm not quite certain which solved some problems, but I no longer get a long list of Permission Repairs. And I am now able to drag and drop a file from the desktop onto my SSD without having a popup window asking for my password.

This is the first time you've mentioned that part. Now that I look at your post again, I don't think your iMac came with an SSD did it? That is an important plot point. It doesn't sound like that drive was setup correctly. I think you might have additional problems beyond scanning.

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Answer 8

Aug 18, 2014 5:56 PM in response to etresoft

Etresoft,

You are correct. My iMac did not come with an SSD. I believe that had I invested more money in a larger SSD (240GB), rather than a 120GB, I could have eliminated some problems. Although I attempted to completely delete the system folder on the internal hard disk, I still have pieces that I seem not to be able to delete. See below:

As you can see I have a folder of seldom used documents, a folder of seldom used applications and a folder of movies on the internal hard disk.

I’m considering replacing my internal SSD with a larger SSD and remove the internal hard drive, if that proves doable. I then can concentrate on one internal drive and one external (backup) drive.

I didn’t mention the problem of having to type the password for dragging and dropping a file onto the SSD because everything appeared to work. It was simply a small irritation. Like I stated before, I found a work-around as far as scanning is concerned, and at this time I feel that I must keep moving forward at least until the beginning of winter when my work will slow down.

Thanks again for your help.

DB

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