Security Update Causes Apps To Be Damaged

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?

Posted on Sep 2, 2016 6:44 AM

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48 replies

Sep 2, 2016 1:40 PM in response to havemusicwilltravel

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.


Delete the stuff in that folder (the system will prompt you for your admin password. Enter it) empty the trash and restart.


The folder is an "invisible" file. Only visible when you use the Go To Folder as specified in the instructions.


A search or spotlight search will not yield the result you're after.
Follow the instructions above.

Sep 2, 2016 1:45 PM in response to fredfx

I have done that, but it only finds the files on the external drive that I have booted up on. The Fusion drive is where I need to delete the files, and it will not find them on that drive. I suspect it only finds files on the current boot drive (which is and external drive). Unfortunately I cannot boot from the Fusion drive, thus I cannot delete these files from there, since they can't be found.

Sep 2, 2016 2:08 PM in response to havemusicwilltravel

take a look at this article.

http://www.howtogeek.com/211496/how-to-hide-files-and-view-hidden-files-on-mac-o s-x


You could also use the utility "Easy Find" which will show you invisible files and then let you navigate to them just by clicking on the file. If there's a free trial, give it a shot.


http://www.devon-technologies.com/

Well worth the money.


This is a good article too.


http://ianlunn.co.uk/articles/quickly-showhide-hidden-files-mac-os-x-mavericks/


Good luck.

Sep 2, 2016 3:19 PM in response to Paul Cohen1

Paul,

According to the recommendations here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7440233?answerId=29701791022#29701791022

I deleted a subfolder "C", but it did not help.

Since the entire folder /private/var/folders is used for "per-user temporary files and caches" (man hier), and, taking into consideration the numerous reports of normal operation by another user, I decided to remove all of its contents but not the folder itself.

N.B.! Do not delete the folder folders ! And don't touch anything else in

/private/var/

Sep 2, 2016 4:21 PM in response to fredfx

You are a GENIUS!! Thank you so much!!!! I did the commands in Terminal to show hidden files. There it was. Went to the /private/var/folders and deleted the contents of the Folders folder. Viola!! Success. My computer boots up! Fantastic. I had Apple on the phone this morning and got set up to go into the store Sunday for the earliest appointment. I'm cancelling that! Git 'er done!!! I love it when the Community Discussions fixes an issue! Great job. If I hadn't had a bootable drive to fall back on I would have been toast. I have Carbon Copy Cloner and absolutely love it. Highly recommend it if anyone is on the fence. Get it!! Backup your computers to a bootable drive. Sooner or later it will more than pay for itself!! I'm out of here. (Unless anyone has some questions). 🙂


And for the record, I also lost one of my two user login files after a system update some months back. I don't know what's happening to Apple updates but because of that I started making bootable backups. It is not an option. It is a necessity folks!

Sep 2, 2016 4:30 PM in response to havemusicwilltravel

And I hope Apple is paying attention. They have to fix this. Now that I deleted those files, I checked the Apps Update and the Security Patch that hosed me is showing up as a necessary Update. No way I am applying that update again. Not until Apple puts out a patched Security update! But that is proof solid that the patch puts something in that hidden folder that is creating bad problems for people. Please fix this Apple!!

Sep 2, 2016 4:37 PM in response to michael gardner

The fix is in this thread as long as you can boot to an external drive. If you can't do that you do indeed have problems.

This worked for my Mac that absolutely would not boot up even after 3 full system installs. Took me a full day to find this fix. The fix took less than 10 minutes once I figured it out.


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.


Delete the stuff in that folder (the system will prompt you for your admin password. Enter it)

empty the trash and restart. Do Not Delete the Folders folder, only it's contents.


The folder is an "invisible" file. Only visible when you use the Go To Folder as specified in the instructions.


A search or spotlight search will not yield the result you're after.

Sep 2, 2016 6:04 PM in response to havemusicwilltravel

I could not get my system to be responsive. I used go to folder to get to /private/var/folders, but after 30 minutes, the contents would not load(nor any folder). So I rebooted to the emergency disk - and used terminal there to cd /Volumes/{sytem disk}/private/var/folders and removed everything. When I rebooted it got as far as a black screen with mouse pointer - no further. I backed out and tried safe boot. 10 minutes and still booting......white screen, mouse - nothing. Screwed.

Sep 2, 2016 7:08 PM in response to michael gardner

I found a clone disk I made a few weeks ago, booted it. Used Terminal to go check /private/var/folders - and three of the folders were still there (with modify times of last boot attempt). I removed them. Rebooted and after a way too long wait, my system came up. So far, it all seems ok - but that is one scary episode I didn't need. Lost 4 hours of work tonight - now I'll lose four hours of sleep making up for it.

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Security Update Causes Apps To Be Damaged

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