Unable to delete System plist files.

Question

My Time Machine is not automatically backing up my drive. It works sometime (not sure why) then stops working automatically. I have tried to implement the procedure provided by Linc Davis, deleting the com.apple.TimeMachine.plist file, but get the message: “com.apple.TimeMachine.plist” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X.  I have attempted to change permissions in the file info window to include administrator Read and Write (only the System has this permission. That results in the message: "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have the necessary permission."Using terminal window and sudo rm command produced the same message.I do a backup manually via the System Preferences window, but immediately it shows that a backup drive hasn&#x27;t been selected. Next time, I select the backup drive, do a manual backup. Repeat process next time I initiate a manual backup.Running 10.11.1 on new iMac Retina 5K with 16GB memory. Did a migration to this computer from previous Mac Pro computer running 10.7.5.Also Time Machine Backup drive icon doesn&#x27;t show Time Machine backup icon. Relaunching Finder doesn&#x27;t solve issue.Question: How can I delete the plist file?Thanks in advance for any advice.

vikg · Answer

Hey Linc,I&#x27;m having the same issue deleting a .plist file but to solve a different problem.  A "mediaanalysisd" process runs persistently whenever the computer sits idle for a while and consumes ~130% of CPU.  Some have suggested this is just Photos reorganizing after upgrading to 10.13 but this has been going on for days.  Someone suggested deleting the com.apple.mediaanalysisd.plist file located in ".../LaunchAgents" folder.  I am not able to delete this file due to file being a system file.  So 2 questions: 1) Would the process you described above work for this file also? 2) Do you have a different opinion on how to resolve the issue I am having?Thanks in advance!

Linc Davis · Answer

A bug in OS X 10.11.1 prevents automatic backups from happening when a desktop Mac (iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro) is connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with USB functionality.Please back up all data before proceeding.First, check the App Store for a later update to OS X. If one is available when you read this comment, install it and see whether the problem is resolved. I&#x27;m not referring to beta releases.Otherwise, you can work around the bug as follows.These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine RequiresACPower 0Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens. ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I&#x27;ve tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting. You&#x27;ll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Confirm. You don&#x27;t need to post the warning.If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you&#x27;re not logged in as an administrator. Log in as one and start over.Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered. You can then quit Terminal.Restart the computer and test.(Credit for this solution to chrfr of macrumors.com.)

Riverguy · Answer

Thanks. I tried your suggestion but it didn&#x27;t correct the problem. IK did have a USB to a UPS connected early on, but have removed that some time ago. Guess I&#x27;ll have to await the 10.11.2 release, hoping that will fix it.

Linc Davis · Answer

I don&#x27;t know what instructions you followed, but below are the instructions I give in cases like yours.This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including the list of excluded items. The backups themselves won&#x27;t be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can&#x27;t be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, see below.Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plistRight-click or control-click the highlighted line and select          Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move the original (not the copy) to the Trash. You&#x27;ll be prompted for your administrator password.Restart the computer and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will falsely show that you have no backups. Don&#x27;t worry; your backups haven&#x27;t been touched.Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.*If you don&#x27;t see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. In the Finder, select          Go ▹ Go to Folder...from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Riverguy · Answer

Those are precisely the instructions I followed and when attempting to delete or move plist file to the trash, I get the message: "“com.apple.TimeMachine.plist” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X." I am in Administrator mode, and the file only allows System privileges to read or write the file. I am unable to change privileges to the file, as stated in the original post.Thanks for your help, but so far nothing works to solve issue.

Linc Davis · Answer

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It makes no changes to your data.Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:ls -@Oaen /L*/Preferences | pbcopyCopy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens. ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I&#x27;ve tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.The Terminal window doesn&#x27;t show the output. Please don&#x27;t copy anything from there.If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Riverguy · Answer

Here &#x27;tis:total 808drwxr-xr-x  122 0    0    sunlnk      4148 Nov 29 19:56 .drwxr-xr-x+  73 0    0    sunlnk      2482 Oct 26 11:14 .. 0: ABCDEFAB-CDEF-ABCD-EFAB-CDEF0000000C deny delete-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -          10754 Oct 26 19:55 .GlobalPreferences.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 .GlobalPreferences.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -           2048 Aug  2 07:26 .TLcO2fgXuD  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           2048 Oct 24 13:15 .UdGwYszmlH-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -           2048 Sep  6  2011 .YuPf_XMA50  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxrwxrwx@   1 504  80   -           1063 Dec 13  2007 .com.zerog.registry.xml  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxrwxr-x    4 0    202  -            136 Oct 26 20:08 Audiodrwxrwxrwx@   2 504  80   -             68 May 24  2011 DRM  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxr-xr-x@   2 0    0    -             68 Oct 24 09:33 DirectoryService  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxrwxrwx@   3 504  80   -            102 Jan  1  2011 Epson  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxrwxrwx@  14 0    0    -            476 Jan 24  2013 FLEXnet Publisher  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxrwxr-x@   5 504  80   -            170 May 24  2011 ImageBrowser  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 drwxr-xr-x    5 0    0    -            170 Oct 26 20:00 OpenDirectory-rw-rw-rw-@   1 504  80   hidden         0 May 26  2009 R49LW  com.apple.FinderInfo   32   com.apple.ResourceFork  286 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -              0 May 26  2009 SF Launcher.prf  com.apple.FinderInfo   32   com.apple.ResourceFork  286 drwxr-xr-x   21 0    80   sunlnk       714 Nov 29 19:00 SystemConfigurationdrwxr-xr-x@   2 0    0    -             68 Aug 23  2012 Xsan  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            204 Dec 26  2014 com.absoft.NeatImage PS.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 May 20  2012 com.absoft.NeatImage PS.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            413 Aug  4  2009 com.absoft.neatimage.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -r-xr--r--@   1 0    0    -            390 Dec  4  2013 com.adobe.CSXS.2.5.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -r-xr--r--@   1 0    0    -            389 Feb  4  2013 com.adobe.CSXS2Preferences.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxrwxr-x@   1 0    0    -            247 Dec  4  2013 com.adobe.Dreamweaver.11.5.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -          30378 Feb  4  2013 com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Apr 18  2012 com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            194 Dec  1  2012 com.adobe.acrobat.pdfviewer.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Dec  1  2012 com.adobe.acrobat.pdfviewer.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Dec 25  2014 com.apc.preference.PowerChutePersonalEdition.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    restricted   174 Jul 30 23:27 com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            180 Oct 24 08:23 com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist~orig-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           1094 Oct 28 15:48 com.apple.AppleShareClient.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            137 Nov 29 12:10 com.apple.BezelServices.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.BezelServices.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -          28457 Nov 29 15:40 com.apple.Bluetooth.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.Bluetooth.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           6860 Oct 24 08:24 com.apple.Bluetooth.plist~orig-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    compressed   418 Aug 22 21:26 com.apple.ByteRangeLocking.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             60 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.CoreRAIDServer.cfdb  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             73 Oct 24 11:08 com.apple.FindMyMac.plist-rwxr-x---    1 0    0    -              0 Mar  7  2012 com.apple.FindMyMac.plist.lockfile-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            387 Jul 30 23:27 com.apple.HIToolbox.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.HIToolbox.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             86 Nov 29 19:00 com.apple.MCX.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    compressed  4115 Aug 23 00:26 com.apple.P2PSupervisor.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            126 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.PCIE.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 ---x--x-wx    1 0    0    -              0 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.PCIE.plist.lockfile-rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -            151 Jan 24  2010 com.apple.QuickTime.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Aug 15  2013 com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             73 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            446 Nov 28 23:26 com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    restricted  1001 Oct 23 22:41 com.apple.TimeMachine.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            241 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.TimeMachine.plist~orig  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    compressed    42 Aug 25 23:43 com.apple.ViewBridge.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    compressed   336 Aug 23 00:26 com.apple.airport.opproam.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           1145 Oct 24 09:34 com.apple.alf.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.alf.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           1148 Oct 24 08:23 com.apple.alf.plist~orig-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -              0 Mar  7  2012 com.apple.applepushserviced.launchd  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            616 Oct 23 16:47 com.apple.applepushserviced.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Feb 18  2012 com.apple.applepushserviced.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -              0 Oct 24 09:34 com.apple.apsd.launchd  com.apple.quarantine   29 -rw-------    1 0    0    -          12817 Nov 29 19:56 com.apple.apsd.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            192 Oct 24 11:37 com.apple.commerce.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            108 Oct 24 08:23 com.apple.dock.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             80 Oct 24 08:24 com.apple.driver.AppleIRController.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             75 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.driver.AppleUSBDisplays.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jul 30 18:30 com.apple.driver.AppleUSBDisplays.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             74 Mar 21  2014 com.apple.filesharingui.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Feb 13  2013 com.apple.filesharingui.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            711 Aug 28  2007 com.apple.iLife08.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            759 Jun 27  2009 com.apple.iLife09.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -            952 Feb  7  2012 com.apple.iPod.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    80   -             64 Nov 22  2009 com.apple.iWork09.Installer.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 501  80   -            250 Sep 17  2009 com.apple.iWork09.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            206 Nov 12 20:43 com.apple.iokit.AmbientLightSensor.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             99 Dec 28  2010 com.apple.loginitems.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    restricted   239 Oct 22 08:52 com.apple.loginwindow.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Nov 27  2014 com.apple.loginwindow.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            155 Oct 24 08:24 com.apple.loginwindow.plist~orig-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             96 Nov 14  2007 com.apple.mail.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -            374 Feb 17  2012 com.apple.mediaio.DeviceSettings.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             71 Nov 14  2007 com.apple.networkConfig.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            971 Nov 29 15:40 com.apple.networkextension.cache.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             63 Nov 29 15:39 com.apple.networkextension.necp.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            308 Nov 28 20:39 com.apple.networkextension.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             85 Nov 29 14:13 com.apple.noticeboard.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            253 Jul 30 18:27 com.apple.pcast_integration.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            497 Oct 26 12:00 com.apple.preferences.accounts.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jan 15  2013 com.apple.preferences.accounts.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -             60 Nov 14  2007 com.apple.preferences.sharing.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             73 Oct 19 09:31 com.apple.print.makequeues.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Feb 17  2012 com.apple.print.makequeues.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            145 Apr 26  2010 com.apple.screensaver.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    compressed   249 Aug 28 01:07 com.apple.security.appsandbox.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             71 Oct 26 20:00 com.apple.security.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -            353 Oct 24 09:35 com.apple.security.systemidentities.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    compressed  1984 Jul 30 18:21 com.apple.servermgrd.plist~orig  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -            145 Jun 14  2009 com.apple.soundpref.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -             42 Oct 26 20:00 com.apple.storeagent.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            106 Oct 24 09:34 com.apple.systemprefs.plist-rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -            216 Oct 24 09:40 com.apple.timezone.auto.plist-rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -           1140 Aug 15  2013 com.apple.windowserver.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Aug 15  2013 com.apple.windowserver.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxrwxr-x@   1 504  80   -            307 Nov 21  2007 com.canon.ImageBrowser.ColorManagement.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxrwxr-x@   1 504  80   -          15456 May 24  2011 com.canon.ic_installer.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x    1 0    0    -            344 Nov 28 20:11 com.maintain.cocktail.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Feb 27  2012 com.maintain.cocktail.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxrwxrwx@   1 0    0    -           7284 Oct 21  2013 com.maintain.scheduler.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-rw-r--@   1 0    0    -            415 Oct 21  2010 com.microsoft.PlayReady.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--    1 0    0    -           3010 Oct 24 13:15 com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist-rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Aug  2 07:26 com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             88 Oct 22 05:20 com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rwxr-xr-x@   1 0    0    -              0 Jan 14  2013 com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist.lockfile  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -            244 Sep  2  2011 com.skype.skype.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 504  80   -             56 Nov 23  2007 com.stuffit.agreement.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -             83 Dec 28  2010 loginwindow.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50 -rw-r--r--@   1 0    0    -           2074 Nov 29 14:09 org.cups.printers.plist  com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot   50   com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot   50

Linc Davis · Answer

That&#x27;s very abnormal. Please open the file below in a text editor and post the contents./System/Library/Sandbox/rootless.conf

Riverguy · Answer

The contents:/Applications/App Store.app/Applications/Automator.app/Applications/Calculator.app/Applications/Calendar.app/Applications/Chess.app/Applications/Contacts.app/Applications/Dashboard.app/Applications/Dictionary.app/Applications/DVD Player.app/Applications/FaceTime.app/Applications/Font Book.app/Applications/Game Center.app/Applications/Image Capture.app/Applications/Launchpad.app/Applications/Mail.app/Applications/Maps.app/Applications/Messages.app/Applications/Mission Control.app/Applications/Notes.app/Applications/Photo Booth.app/Applications/Photos.app/Applications/Preview.app/Applications/QuickTime Player.app/Applications/Reminders.app/Applications/Safari.app/Applications/Stickies.app/Applications/System Preferences.app/Applications/TextEdit.app/Applications/Time Machine.app/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility.app/Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup.app/Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app/Applications/Utilities/ColorSync Utility.app/Applications/Utilities/Console.app/Applications/Utilities/Digital Color Meter.app/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app/Applications/Utilities/Feedback Assistant.app/Applications/Utilities/Grab.app/Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Applications/Utilities/Migration Assistant.app/Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app/Applications/Utilities/System Information.app/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Applications/Utilities/VoiceOver Utility.app/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist/System*/System/Library/Cachesbooter/System/Library/CoreServices*/System/Library/CoreServices/Photo Library Migration Utility.app/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle*/System/Library/Extensions/System/Library/Extensions/*UpdateSettings/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.UpdateSettings.plist*/System/Library/Speech*/System/Library/User Template/bindyld/private/var/db/dyld/sbin/usr*/usr/libexec/cups*/usr/local*/usr/share/man# symlinks/etc/tmp/var

Linc Davis · Answer

That&#x27;s OK.Is this your personal computer, or is it managed by someone else? Is there a preference pane named "Profiles" in System Preferences? If so, then some settings have been locked and you can&#x27;t change them directly.

Riverguy · Answer

This is my personal computer. It is new, just purchased. Migrated files from older computer, Mac Pro running 10.7.5. I am the administrator, and only other "user" listed is Guest. There is a file Profiles.prefPane in the Preferencepanes folder. Clicking on it opens a window that says "No profiles installed".

Linc Davis · Answer

My question is whether the Profiles pane appears in the System Preferences window.

Riverguy · Answer

No, there is no Profiles pane in the System Preferences window. I do have a Users &amp; Groups pane.

Linc Davis · Answer

I don&#x27;t know how it happened, but the &#x27;restricted&#x27; flag was set on some preference files that should not have it.1. If you don&#x27;t already have a current backup, please back up all data. There are ways to back up a computer that isn&#x27;t fully functional. Ask if you need guidance. Don&#x27;t skip this step.2. Disconnect all external storage devices.3. To simplify these instructions, I&#x27;ll assume that there is only one installation of OS X on the startup drive. If there&#x27;s more than one, the procedure may need to be modified.4. Start up in Recovery mode. Select a language, if prompted. The OS X Utilities screen will appear.5. This step is only necessary if you use FileVault 2. If you don&#x27;t know what FileVault is, you&#x27;re not using it. Go to the next step. Otherwise, launch Disk Utility, then select the icon of the FileVault volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another drive icon. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar and enter your login password when prompted. Then quit Disk Utility to be returned to the main screen.6. Select Get Help Online. Safari will launch. While in Recovery, you&#x27;ll have no access to your bookmarks, but you won&#x27;t need them. Load this web page.7. Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:chflags norestricted /V*/*/L*/Preferences/*Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.8. Quit Safari. From the menu bar, select          Utilities ▹ TerminalThe Terminal application will launch. Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V.Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear. Quit Terminal to be returned to the main screen.9. Select           ▹ Restartfrom the menu bar.You should now be able to delete the file in question.

Riverguy · Answer

That unlocked the files, was able to remove preference plist. Process fixed Time Machine issue. Also fixed another issue, now able to set "Remember this network" for my hidden WiFi. Thanks much, Linc!!

/Applications/App Store.app
/Applications/Automator.app
/Applications/Calculator.app
/Applications/Calendar.app
/Applications/Chess.app
/Applications/Contacts.app
/Applications/Dashboard.app
/Applications/Dictionary.app
/Applications/DVD Player.app
/Applications/FaceTime.app
/Applications/Font Book.app
/Applications/Game Center.app
/Applications/Image Capture.app
/Applications/Launchpad.app
/Applications/Mail.app
/Applications/Maps.app
/Applications/Messages.app
/Applications/Mission Control.app
/Applications/Notes.app
/Applications/Photo Booth.app
/Applications/Photos.app
/Applications/Preview.app
/Applications/QuickTime Player.app
/Applications/Reminders.app
/Applications/Safari.app
/Applications/Stickies.app
/Applications/System Preferences.app
/Applications/TextEdit.app
/Applications/Time Machine.app
/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app
/Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility.app
/Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup.app
/Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app
/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app
/Applications/Utilities/ColorSync Utility.app
/Applications/Utilities/Console.app
/Applications/Utilities/Digital Color Meter.app
/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app
/Applications/Utilities/Feedback Assistant.app
/Applications/Utilities/Grab.app
/Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app
/Applications/Utilities/Migration Assistant.app
/Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app
/Applications/Utilities/System Information.app
/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
/Applications/Utilities/VoiceOver Utility.app
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
/System
*	/System/Library/Caches
booter	/System/Library/CoreServices
*	/System/Library/CoreServices/Photo Library Migration Utility.app
/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle
*	/System/Library/Extensions
/System/Library/Extensions/*
UpdateSettings	/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.UpdateSettings.plist
*	/System/Library/Speech
*	/System/Library/User Template
/bin
dyld	/private/var/db/dyld
/sbin
/usr
*	/usr/libexec/cups
*	/usr/local
*	/usr/share/man