I installed the Security Update on my iMac at work and my MacBook Pro this morning (September 2, 2016). The MacBook Pro has had no problems, but the iMac is in trouble. It rebooted after installing the update and drops to the desktop, but it will not open applications, saying they are damaged or incomplete. The Finder is VERY slow, taking several seconds to open windows. Is there any way I can rebuild something to get my functionality back?
I'm scrolling through my Applications folder and ALL icons are generic now. I can't launch anything.
It could be that the system got corrupted somehow, or it could be that the disk got corrupted somehow, or it could even be that the disk is failing. First order of business is to start in Recovery mode and verify the disk with Disk Utility.
The disk verifies as OK in recovery mode. There system will boot...just no apps will launch. Everything has generic icons in the Applications folder.
Does this behavior persist when starting up in Safe Mode?
I've had this problem right after some updates too. And it was not possible to run the Terminal and Console.
The only solution that helped:
1) Startup this Mac with any external MacOS (Yosemite, El Capitan on external disk).
2) On the problem disk (Macintosh HD in my case) Go to Folder /private/var/folders and trash ALL contents (enter admin password).
3) Empty the trash and reboot to main MacOS.
P.S. Safe boot did not help. Partially cleanup /private/var/folders did not help too.
OK. I started in Safe Mode. The Finder is still very sluggish (beach balls for several seconds before showing anything). The Preview app will open, as will Photoshop. But the Terminal, Mail, Safari, and other Apple programs will not.
I have the recovery partition on my hard drive that has access to the Terminal. Could I see the disk from here and do the repair you mention or does it have to be booted in another way?
This solved my issue but I had a different problem. My Mac Mini would only boot about half way and then stop.
Deleting these files allowed the system to boot completely.
I opened the /private/var/folders directory and deleted the items in it from within the system while it was running. I restarted the machine and it's back to normal. I did NOT boot from another Mac OS installation to do this. It worked to bring things back to normal.
Please excuse my ignorance here. I am trying to find these files to delete, but I am not finding the location. I can access my HD, but am finding nothing that is a VAR folder?
In the Finder, under the Go menu at the top of the screen, select Go To Folder and paste in /private/var/folders and a window will open with the directory opened.
For those of us whose Mac's wont boot (another issue with this wonderful Security Update) that is not an option.
Mike,
What is this folder and what are the contents which you are trashing??( private/var/folders)
I had the same issue with my MBPro and had to reinstall ALL.
Paul
I did it this way too and it worked for me.
Once the system "calmed down" I was able to navigate to the
/private/var/folders
and trash what was there.
I restarted, and all was right with the world.
This is my system profile.
System Software Overview:
System Version: OS X 10.11.6 (15G1004)
Kernel Version: Darwin 15.6.0
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Processor): 12 MB
Memory: 32 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.25f4
I am booted up to a external drive. The search for the folder to delete only finds the folder on the external drive. So far I am unable to find the folder on my Fusion drive, which is my normal full boot drive. Thus, I am unable to try this fix so far.
Security Update Causes Apps To Be Damaged
