Wipe a HD via Unix in Single User Mode?

Is it possible to wipe a hard drive using diskutil or another method when booting up in Single User Mode? We routinely need to wipe drives and if possible, this would be the easiest.
I suspect because the OS that boots in Single User Mode is on that same drive will make this impossible.
Thanks in advance for your tips and comments,
Doug

Yes, you cannot erase an OS while it's 'hosting' the erasure. Single user mode is part of Mac OS X, so it's on the hard drive, not in the firmware or anything super-low-level like that. Oh well. So... you might be able to erase the vast majority of user, application, and even OS files, but it won't be complete and won't be 'as good as' a volume-format.
A couple alternatives come to mind (sorry if you know all this. Not trying to be pedantic or patronizing, just making sure you know your options).
We keep host computers around just for running wipes, backups, and diagnostics that cannot run from a drive holding the booted OS. You simply restart the to-be-wiped Mac holding the 't' key, connect it via firewire, and treat it as an external hard drive.
You could also just boot from a Mac OS X install disc and wipe from the copy of Disk Utility included on the disc. Better yet, throw a +bona fide+ copy of OS X onto a pocket hard drive, boot the victim-Mac from that (hold option while it is first starting up), and wipe the internal HD normally, now that it's not in use. You could maybe even use single user mode in the booting OS, like you'd imagined, and format from there (I'm not sure that would be faster than letting it boot normally, though, as you might have to use "dd" or some other similar low-level wipe method, as I don't think the frameworks required for Apple's cli "diskutil" are available in single user mode).
I haven't tried to use it on a Mac, but I have a 256 MB USB flash drive with, er, ['Darn' Small Linux|http://tinyurl.com/5md7t] on it for diagnosing Windows boxes. It runs a script on boot which, if you don't intervene to run utilities or what-have-you, will wipe all attached hard drives and shut down. I keep it locked up for understandable reasons, but its super useful just as a time-saver, booting most machines and beginning the countdown-to-wipe in under ten seconds.
Anyway, let us know what your goals and thoughts are.
Cheers, Joel

Similar Messages

Mount device via USB in single user mode

Hi.
Help much needed. My macbook pro appeared to be crashed with harddisk problem
at start time... unable to boot to normal login screen.
When I run in single user mode, I dont seem to see my thumbdrive, or external device.
I connected them via the USB ports on my Macbook pro (17")(Snow Leopard)
I checked /dev/disk* and saw only disk0 (disk0, disk0s1, disk0s2, disk0s3).
I never get to see disk1 no matter what I tried. (I've various MSDOs format,
or NTFS format disks).
I followed the advise here:
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=232365
Am I supposed to be able to see the drive the moment I connect it to the
port?
Thanks.
Marc

When I insert the disk, the root prompt would come telling me the USBMSC message. So, it does know I inserted the external drive. But yet, no new refresh of the /dev.
The device should be listed in /dev after the USBMSC message whether you mounted the root file system write or not.
$ ls /dev/disk*
/dev/disk0 /dev/disk0s1 /dev/disk0s2 /dev/disk0s3
Either the boot partition table is APM or GPT with two partitions.
I went to /Volumes and able to read the directory of files that I want to copy.
You should stay out of the /Volumes directory. Reference your path like->
ls -l /Users/<your name>/Documents/
And avoid creating mount points in the /Volumes directory. It is used by diskarbitration.
At this point, I would stop running fsck_hfs on the device (or any other utility) and either try to mount the drive via firewire disk mode or have someone block copy the disk.

Cannot edit sudoers file in single user mode.

I did not back up my sudoers file on my pro.
I made a change to it, adding my "test" user to be able to use sudo, but upon restarting, it didn't work, and I cannot edit the file via cd in single user mode.
I mounted the drive, changed permissions, but it seems that I don't have the option to use vi, visudo, vim.
Thanks for the help.

I mounted the hdd using the command below.
I then made sure I could get to the file by cd to it.
Then once I was there, i would attempt to type vis <tab> to complete, and visudo does not show up. Typed in visudo, nothing. This was on a brand new mb pro. I can wipe it out, but I would rather figure out why its not working.
The reason for all this is I have to give it to a user at my job. We don't want them to have admin rights to install anything they want, but they need to use sudo in X11 for compiling and such. I read online that I can edit/add their username to the sudoers file, and allow them the right to sudo for compiling, starting apache on their laptops, etc.
Thanks.

How do I find the unix system is in single user mode ?

How do I find the unix system is in single user mode ?
thanks
siva

Please run 'who -r', and then check the man page of 'init' for interpreting the run level output.

Single user mode, Lost Admin Account, and Disk Permissions

Okay, so I have quite a few issues here. I will start from the beginning.
About a week ago, I tried to install some updates and I could not get the Admin account to work. I went to the users profile and noticed my Admin account was not there. Did a quick search and found Apple's outline of how to fix this via the Operational DVD and the root user. Tried this and it would never work, because as soon as I restarted the computer or changed screens it switched back to a standard account.
Next up, I went into the terminal to check the Admin User group. As it turns out it is not there. So I find a discussion on there that outlines how to rebuild this in single user mode and the Unix prompt. So, I print it off and try to restart in single user mode. After trying two different keyboards and a sum total of 8 to 10 times, I can't restart in single user mode to get to the Unix prompt.
One last thing, last night I went into the Disk Utility on the start-up DVD. I wanted to check the Repair Permission log and I got the following:
ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library/Preferences"
ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library/"
ACL found but not expected on "Network"
Thoughts?
Thanks for your help!
tpp

first, the ACL messages can be ignored. if you can't get to single user mode you can't fix your admin group. the only reasons that I know why you wouldn't be able to do that is
1. a defective keyboard
2. you have a firmware password set. have you? you'd have to turn it off before you can get to single user mode.
lastly when you restart in single user mode make sure you press command+s right after you hear the chime. do not press it too early or too late. lastly, I'm not sure which instructions you've found to fix the admin group but I have them in this thread
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8011324

Single-user mode: How to mount and access an external USB drive?

My MacBook Pro HD is acting up. Cannot boot normally or into "safe mode". Cannot reinstall OS without wiping out the HD. Need to recover some critical files but DiskUtil First Aid and Restore options cannot successfully complete. Problem traced down to "invalid node structure" which means I either have a hardware problem or my filesystem partition directory structure is corrupted. I need to recover some files that are not backed up (timin issue with my regular backup process).
I can boot into single-user mode, mount the root file system (/sbin/mount -uw /) and can see/navigate the rot filesystem structure via good UNIX command line. Here's what I would like to do (in single-user mode):
1. Mount an external USB drive (250 GB already formatted as Mac OS X Extended)
2. Copy various files and/or directories from my HD to the external USB drive (UNIX cp command)
I realize I could go spend $$ for the Disk Warrior or Data Rescue products (or something similar) that SHOULD help me recover my HD or files, but it seems silly to do this when I can see, touch and taste them from within single-user mode....
Comments? Suggestions?
TIA --
Trent
P.S. Once I've recovered my files, I'll try to reformat the HD and then reinstall the OS. And THEN go have Apple look at my machine (thank goodness for AppleCare coverage)!

Resolution:
1) Boot system in single-user mode (SUM) with external HD attached.
2) Execute the following UNIX CLI commands once SUM boot process is completed:
# fsck -fy
# mount -uw /
# mkdir /Volumes/target_directory
# mount -t hfs -w /dev/diskXXX /Volumes/target_directory
# cp -RXv /source_directory /Volumes/target_directory
Where XXX is the device-level name for your external HD's data partition. In my case this was /dev/disk1s2. It may take some experimentation to identify this device name if your system has multiple HD's.
3) Verify contents were successfully copied onto the /Volumes/target_directory.
Comments and observations:
- Do NOT use "/" as your source directory - cp will make a second (redundant) copy of /volumes/target_directory
- I was able to successfully copy ALL files off my HD despite the fsck command's "invalid node structure" error message with this simple procedure. YMMV, depending on the state of your HD.
- The repeated disk0s2: I/O error warnings displayed during the SUM boot process did not seem to have a negative effect on this procedure. I also received this same error warning intermittently as I navigated the mounted filesystem did not seem to be a problem, either. Again, YMMV.
Commercial software:
I downloaded ProSoft Engineering's Data Rescue 3 product (trial version) before spending $99 to attempt to recover my "bad" HD's data via mounting to a good system with FW target mode. It could not successfully complete its "QuickScan" process and immediately hung on block 0 of 390M during its "Deep Scan" process. The product did seem to function properly on an operational system. ProSoft's technical support was responsive and helpful but had no answer for my "Deep Scan" error.
I did not attempt to use Alsoft's Disk Warrior 4 product. I could not find any trial software available and was reluctant to spend $100 based upon the mixed reviews and comments on this discussion forum as well as other reviews. Alsoft does claim to address the "invalid node structure" error in their marketing materials. Hindsight being 20/20 - I saved $100 by using this simple procedure.
Final note:
Neither Leopard nor Snow Leopard's installation DVD could recognize the bad internal HD when trying to do a reinstall. While DiskUtil was able to "see" the bad internal drive it immediately failed when I tried to do an "erase and format". Took the system to my local Apple store and the Genius ran a tool called "SMART Utility" from Volitans Software (www.volitans-software.com). SMART utility confirmed that my HD was bad so it was replaced. AppleCare pays for itself (once again!).

MBP starts up in Single User Mode by default..

I restarted the machine because the trackpad was acting up. After file vault reclaimed unused disk space, the computer restarted with a black screen with "localhost :/ root#" in the upper left screen. I know very little unix so please forgive my lack of lingo.
How can I possibly get back to the graphical multi user login? I have tried to restart in safe mode and from the install dvd but they just bring me back to the "localhost :/ root#" black screen. I have also restarted holding down the option key to select a drive, which I set to my drive name, and same thing-- Apple logo on a grey screen, spinning gear, then black screen localhost :/ root#. Only thing I havent tried that im aware of is target mode, but my other computer (Rev A. iMac) which is the machine I am writng this from is on OS 9 with no fire wire and just a 4g drive.
So I need some advice if you have any. Hardware appears fine save for the trackpad and button being touchy. Apple has already replaced my swelling battery. They told me the new mbp's have a barrier between the the battery and trackpad assembly, (a prior neglected, inherent design flaw).
I do have a new USB external hd. Is there any way to login my home folder and completely copy the home folder contents to it in single user mode? If I could do this, I would at least be able to keep my itunes librarys, playlists, keychain data, mail, etc.. Thanks in advance for any help any of you may have

Ok, I did the dmesg command at the prompt. Here is word for word what it spit out:
localhost:/ root# dmesg
hi mem tramps at 0xffe00000
PRE enabled
standard timeslicing quantum 10000 us
vmpagebootstrap:513016 free pages
migtable_maxdispl = 71
Enabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
96 prelinked modules
ACPI CA 20060421
AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: ready
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=0 LocalApicId=0 Enabled
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=1 LocalApicId=1 Enabled
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
The Regents of The University of California. All Rights Reserved.
using 10485 buffer headers and 4096 cluster IO buffer headers
Enabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Started CPU 01
IOAPIC: Version 0x20 Vectors 64:87
ACPI: System State [S0 S3 S4 S5] (S3)
Security auditing service present
BSM Auditing Present
disabled
rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen: 00001B5D-7D26-0000-2F5D-000090200000
Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
USB caused wake event (EHCI)
FireWire (OHCI) Lucent ID 5811 PCI now active, GUID 0016cbfffe523440; max speed s400.
Got boot device =IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@1F,2/AppleAHCI/PRT 2@2/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice/IOBlockStorageDr iver/ST9100824AS Media/IOGUIDPartitionScheme/Customer02
BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::probe:
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::start before command
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::stop
IOBluetoothHCIController::start Idle Timer Stopped
disk0s2: 0xe0030005 (UNDEFINED).
localhost:/ root#
A couple of things to note:
1. I did have an external bootable drive, which does work properly when selected as the Startup Disk, but still registers when not plugged in the machine.
2 File Vault is turned on. And let me tell you. If you ever use more than half your drive space, as most people do, you will have a humbling experience. File Vault is overkill. I am angry that Apple could not come up with a "fail-safe" for legitimate, password bearing rightful owners.
I just want one chance to get in my home folder to get what I want (my music, photos, mail, passwords, widgets, etc.)

Installing from Single User Mode

I had to wipe my internal hard drive on my iMac G5 (the model just prior to the Intel Macs). I did this from another Mac using FireWire mode.... anyway...
I can boot in Single User mode, but how can I tell it to install from the Tiger Installer in the DVD drive.. I just don't know Unix much..
The machine will boot from the Install disc but shuts down before it actually boots.... Stays on in Single User mode though.. thanks

Thanks for everyone's advice, but it's gone.... After a few attemps and getting it up and running, with a new system installed, it just shut down one last time and has a nice burnt aroma to it....
I pulled the power supply out and it smelled fine on it's own and it seemed be burnt somewhere in the computer... If I let it sit for a while, I can start it up, but then it shuts down and stays down for a long time...
It's now a 17" paper weight..... No data was lont, sine I backed it up just prior to the problem.
Pretty good record though. I've owned Macs way back to my PowerPC 7600 days (and even my old Apple 2e and II gs) and this is the first Mac that I will ever have to toss.. I'm happy about that... Still got my Intel iMcac and MacBook Pro (but my mother-in-law inherits my old Macs and she passes her's to her son. She's bummbed she'll miss this one.. She'll have to live with the iMac (shpere type) one for a while longer....)
RIP

Resetting the Admin password in single user mode

Ok, my friend bought an old Imac from someone she went to school with with OS 10.4.2 on it. It works fine except that she can not install any programs because there is an admin password that she does not know. She asked the person she bought it from, he says he doesn't even remember setting a password. Normaly with this issue id just pop in the install disk and reset it from there, except neither of them have the install disk, and my install disk is to current for the machine. Does anyone know how I can reset the admin acount using single user mode commands? I can do it on my Mac Book pro but it doesn't seem to work the same way on 10.4. Please help!
EDIT: It is a Power PC G3 if that helps.
Message was edited by: CartooNxHerO

CartooNxHerO wrote:
Ok, so I used the advice from the third link you gave me but i'm still in single user mode trying to figure out how to delete the users home folders.
Message was edited by: CartooNxHerO
You do not need to delete "the users home folders". Nor do you need to delete the netinfo database. Here are two proceedures:
Change Password
Mac OS X:
Changing or resetting an account password via GUI:
Resetting a user's password
Resetting the original administrator account password
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156
You do not have a CD/DVD
Changing password from single user mode:
You can also change the administrator's password from single user mode or create a new administrator account.
You need to get into single use mode for steps one and two that are listed below.
This page will tell you how to get into single user mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492
Basically, you hold down the command-s key then powering on your machine. The command key has a little apple symbol on the lower left. It is between the alt/option key and the space bar. On a PC keyboard, it will be the windows key, I think.
1) You can change the password on an account. ( Do you know Unix. You are in a Unix single user console. ) The setup commands you need should be listed on the screen. For Mac OS 10.4.11, the commands are:
# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
# Start up some utility processes that are needed.
sh /etc/rc
# You will probably need to press the return key once the system stops typing.
# To find out the users on the system type, use the list command. The l is a lower case L:
ls /Users
# One of these accounts will be the administrator.
# Pick one of the users which I'll call a-user-name and type it in this command:
passwd a-user-name
# and enter the new user password. You need six characters.
# You will need to enter your password twice. Your typing will not show up on the screen just
# press enter when you complete the typing.
# For cryptic information on these commands try:
man ls
man passwd
The root account isn't enabled by default. I am not sure if changing the password on root will enable it.
2) Get the Mac to set up an additional administrative account. You can then change the password on your old account.
Start with your computer power off. Hold down command-s. Power on your computer.
Type in the following:
The first two commands will depend on your release of Mac OS X. Look at what is typed out in the console to determine the exact format.
# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write. Press return after each command.
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
cd /var/db
pwd
#List all files. The l is a lower case L.
ls -a
#The move command acts as a rename command in this format.
mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old
reboot
Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!
Limnos adds detailed explainations:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8441597#8441597
The above the idea came from a post by JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/howdo_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_rootpassword.html
You will need to scroll down to see this post. Search for applesetupdone
Or see:
http://superpixel.ch/articles/running-setup-assistant-again/
Once you have a new administrative account, you can change the password of your old administrative account
blue apple > System Preferences > Accounts

Single user mode: Argument List is too long, PLEASE HELP

Hey guys,
I recently posted a topic asking if any1 knew how to delete all png files on the desktop,
Nt many people replied,
But anyway, I did some research and now I know how to do it,
but in single user mode (cmd + S),
When I typed in rm *.png
While I ws on the desktop in single user mode,
It came up saying Argument list too long,
Does any1 know how to fix this,
Plz reply ASAP,
& if possible addme on Skype mark.davidson19, it wld b extremely helpful

If there are too many files expanded via the *.png wildcard, then the argument list length maximum can be exceeded. The last time I checked, Mac OS X had a 256K line length limitation. (AIX was 1M, Linux 128K, Solaris 1M, Windows 8K (Cygwin env) - your mileage may vary with each operating system release).
If you have too many files to expand on the command line, then you can delete them in batches. There are several ways to do this
cd ~/Desktop
rm [a-m]*.png
rm [n-z]*.png
rm [A-M]*.png
rm [N-Z]*.png
Or finer increments.
You could use something like
find ~/Desktop '*.png' -print0 -depth 1 | xargs -0 rm
And you can also use
find ~/Desktop '*.png' -depth 1 -delete
This being a Unix environment, there are most likely a dozen additional ways to delete all the .png files and avoid command line length limits.
As MrHoffman says, using rm and wildcards is a very dangerous thing to do unless you really REALLY know what you are doing. If not, I strongly suggest having a recent full backup handy. I actually suggest a backup regardless of how good you are in the Unix environment (I have multiple via different backup utilities preformed on a very regular basis; years of experience has taught me you cannot be too careful with your data - it is worth far more than the cost of backup equipment).

Data back up from Single User Mode

Hello,
I have a problem with my 700 MHz iBook, dual USB, with OS X 10.3.9.
Unfortunately the OS doesn't start up because of "overlapped extent allocation" problem...
I would like to re-install the complete OS but before doing it, I would like to back up some directories.
Is it possible to save some data, by connecting an Ipod or some sort of external peripheral, from the Single User mode?
If yes, how can I do it?
Thank you in advance from your kind support.

Before giving up the ghost check out these:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25770.
Manually fix Overlapped Extent Allocation Errors without Disk Warrior
Overlapped overlapped extent allocation errors can be the bane of any Mac user's existence. Often, these errors go unnoticed until the problem becomes visible: your Mac might refuse to boot, crash unexpected, or worse, critical data might disappear from the Finder. Disk Utility can detect, but not fix overlapped extent allocation errors, and certain third-party utilities, such as Alsoft Diskwarrior, can fix them, but generally without reporting the consequences.
Overlapped extent allocation error occur when the file system thinks that two files are occupying the same area on the hard disk, hence overlapping on the same "inode," which is the structure which holds the location of the data blocks the file occupies, and also file permissions and flags.
Clearing the "overlapped" or "overallocated" extent allocation essentially means that you'll have to lose some data, because the only way to remove the overlap is to delete the file that's occupying the inode. So, if you suspect, or find out, that the guilty file is a critical system file that resides in one of the hidden system directories such as /etc /var /usr/ or visible system directories such as /System or /Library, and you don't want to reinstall the whole OS (which might not fix the overlapped extent allocation anyway), it's good to have another disk available to copy the files back to your original disk if necessary: a second bootable hard drive or a firewire drive connected to your Mac when you remove the misbehaving file. Just make sure that when you copy the file back to your boot disk that the permissions are correct, so it's best to use the "ditto" command, so that all sticky bits, flags, and permissions are preserved.
In case you didn't know, you don't have to boot from an install CD in order to check for overlapped extent allocations. All you need to do is restart your Mac, while holding down command + S to boot in "single-user mode."
At the command prompt that appears, type:
$ fsck -fy
If you have an overlapped extent allocation, you'll see:
"Overlapped Extent Allocation" (File 123456d)
No matter how many times you run fsck -fy, you'll never be rid of the error.
So, simply issue the following command:
find / -inum 123456 -print
Note the "d" was dropped, or any extra letter that appears after the inode number.
The find will return a file name that matches with the inode number, and the path to that file. If you remove the file then the fsck will not return this error next time you run it.
However, before you can delete the file(s) in single-user mode, you'll need to mount the file system. Type:
$ mount -uw /
When done, issue the "sync" command, and that will flush the write cache so that all pending writes are written from memory to the disk. Also, since most OS X 10.3 Macs use the HFS+ Journaled file system, it might be a good idea to disable the journal before booting into single-user mode by typing:
$ sudo diskutil disableJournal /
then re-enable it when done fixing the overlapped extents and rebooting normally:
$ sudo diskutil enableJournal /
Chris Anderson is a long-time Linux propellerhead who just got his first Mac, an ibook G4, and can't keep his hands off of it. He currently works as a "The Architect" and general visionary for a maker of world-class collectibles.
If you own Disk Warrior then it should be able to repair a drive with overlapped extents.
There are two backup utilities included in Unix - psync and rsync. You will find them in the /usr/bin/ directory. For documentation simply enter: man psync or man rsync. In order to write data while in single-user mode you need to issue the command: /sbin/mount/ -uw / (Note: there is a "space" between the "uw" and the "/".) To mount an external drive you will need to provide the mountpoint for it in place of the "/", e.g., "/Volumes/volname") without the quotes.

How do i repair my hard drive in single user mode when disk is full?

Hi there Apple Community!
I have an old Macbook Pro 17" with an upgraded 500GB harddrive and 4GB memory. I'm running Mac OSX Lion.
Was hoping you could help me out. THis is the situation:
Long story short I spilt wine on my macbook and the screen went a bit blobby. Switched it off for a few days, removed the battery etc. etc. Opened it up cleaned out as much of the wine as possible, but unfortunately some of it came in behind the LCD, so now the screen has a nice red stain. Obviously I'm not going to try to clean that out of the LCD.
My Macbook Pro still worked for a few days after that, but then my harddrive gave up. I booted in the Recovery HD menu, verified the drive and I got the error "Keys out of order - This disk needs to be repaired, click Repair Disk." I attempted to repair the disk but got the error "Keys out of order - Disk Full Error - The volume could not be repaired".
Unfortnately of this 500GB I only have about 7GB free on it, as I have a huge iPhoto and iTunes library. I did make a TIme Machine backup of my user directory, but not the system files. I don't really want to do a clean install because:
1) I'm paranoid that there's something I did not fully back up
2) I don't want to have to download the whole Mac OSX Lion again. I should have made a USB bootable backup when I had the chance. I don't have access to a broadband connection.
What I feel are my viable options, are as follows:
1) I did buy a replacement internal 500GB harddrive, so I can probably try to make an image of the hard drive to this new drive, but not sure how. I believe it's through the Disk Utility with the "New Image" option but not sure how to go from there.
2) Start up in Single User Mode and delete some unnecessary files and re-attempt to run the fschk -fy utility again (I tried this earlier and got the same Disk Full Error). - the problem with this is, I'm not familiar with the command line and have no clue how to delete files. I don't know my way around Unix.
3) I can also probably attempt to make a Ghost Image or Acronis Image of the failed drive to this new drive, but not sure if Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image will be able to read this HFS drive - I believe it's possible as it's a simple hard drive clone.
If you can guide me in the best option - probably there is a better solution than my proposed ones above, I appreciate any feedback and comments you might have!

hi Baltwo,
So I ended up copying my user folder to another harddrive. I managed to download the whole osx lion again, reinstalled, and recovered my home folder using this discussion:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1428
I have managed to get all my files back. My iTunes library works fine, but my iPhoto library when I open it, get the following error:
iPhoto cannot be opened because of a problem.
Here's the error log
Process:         iPhoto [1540]
Path:            /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Identifier:      com.apple.iPhoto
Version:         8.1.2 (8.1.2)
Build Info:      iPhotoProject-4240000~8
Code Type:       X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [209]
Date/Time:       2012-09-19 19:56:45.528 +0200
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.7.4 (11E53)
Report Version: 9
Sleep/Wake UUID: 7948ABE2-5294-4F87-B6E3-777095A2F2EE
Interval Since Last Report:          4780 sec
Crashes Since Last Report:           9
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report:   9
Anonymous UUID:                      70117D38-03EA-4F9C-B810-50B743864B9E
Crashed Thread: 0
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Application Specific Information:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries
Dyld Error Message:
Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iLifeSlideshow.framework/Versions/A/iLifeSlid eshow
Referenced from: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Reason: image not found
I've done an Apple Software Update but it didn't find an update for iPhoto.
One thing to note is, this library was originally created on iLife 08, upgraded to '09 and it stayed on that version. It hasn't een upgraded to iLife '11. It worked fine on my previous install of OSX Lion. How do I recover the library without upgrading to '11 ?

I changed my wheel group properties to no access at top disk level. I messed up, how can I change back in single user mode "command s" as I am now in Thailand and not able to access startup disks?

I messed up, I changed my "Wheel group" properties to No Access ( or something other than the default) at the top level of my startup disk "Macintosh HD".   Now my computer won't start up, I just get the spinning wheel of death.    I also am in Thailand right now, so I cannot go to a Genius at an apple store, nor do I have startup disks available.
So I was hoping there was a way to change back the properties of my disk (Volume) in single user mode (via Command +s) during startup, i.e. can I do a chmod command on the Macintosh HD listing under the Volume Directory.    Or where do i fix this?   Is it fixable without startup disks, etc...
THANKS FOR ANY HELP!!!!
If you could also please let me know you have an answer, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!
thanks so much
mark
<Edited by Host>

Thomas,
Thanks for the info on command-R, didn't know about that!!!
Yes I changed the sharing "Wheel Group" permissions on my hard drive via Get Info.    But that's all I did.    And then most of the apps wouldn't respond with anything.    So not knowing I did something stupid, I decided to re-boot, and then nothing but the Wheel of Death at startup.
I was trying to limit access to my computer on this network, changed my public folder settings, and then I thought why not the whole hard drive, but at that time I had no idea what the "Wheel Group" was... so I shouldn't have touched it, BUT IT DID ...... argggggg....
I managed to go to an internet cafe & research the problem yesterday.    I used the command +s single mode to get in, and then did the necessary steps to mount the drive so I could make changes.   I basically did this:
Boot into single-user mode (boot while holding down CMD-S)
Follow the on-screen instructions to mount the file system as read-write (a fsck command followed by a mount command)
Type the following: "chmod o+r /" followed by "chmod o+x /"
Type "exit" to leave single user mode and complete the boot sequence.
I found it at this link http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=416180
It worked... thank God!!!   Well so far so good.
I was going to try my own fix by chmod on the Hard drive listed under Volumes directory, but that doesn't seem to match the info under Get Info Window.    So I just used the fix above.    I probably should now go and do "Disk Utility - repair permissions", however I am a little gun shy right now, so I will probably wait until I am back in the States so I can go to an Apple store if it messes up.   Right now I'm following the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" MOTTO...
So Thomas I just wanted to say THANKS for replying so quickly, and I really appreciate your help!!!
(yes I know I shouldn't have used my email addresses, but I WAS DESPERATE, but that's still no excuse)
Hopefully maybe this thread will help someone else out in the future....
Okay, thanks again!
Mark

Single-User Mode Copying Files/System Does not Boot Past Apple Logo Screen

I have a Macbook 2.0GHZ, 2GB RAM, that recently tried to download a secuirty and keynot update. Following the download the system will no longer boot past the Apple Logo Screen with the spinning wheel. I do not have access to a OS disk yet or to a firewire cable either. I've have seen posts from others that describe how to use traget disk mode to reinstall the secuirty update manually and then they can boot their computer. Safe mode will not work. I did boot into single-user mode and run the disk utility there and it says my HD is OK. Since I do not have a firewire or an OS Disk, I am wondering if there is a way to copy those files i need to a USB pen stick then install them onto the computer via single-user mode, considering this is the only way I can boot and manipulate the machine at this time. If this is not possible please let me know so I can find a way to scrounge up a firewire cable or disk. Thank you in advance for any assistance.
Ted K

Thanks to Limnos and BDAqua I know you guys have helped others with these kind of problems from the other posts I read. I just want to list what I did exactly in case anyone wants to try to do this with a usb drive or does not have access to a boot disk or firewire cable.
1: Install security update on a pen drive
2: Boot in single user mode, CMD-S on startup
3: /sbin/mount -uw /
4: mkdir /Volumes/usb (usb can be any name, name of usb drive or anything you want)
5: ls /dev (you need to get the drive listing for the usb drive to mount it appropriately, it should be disk#s# but this is close to what the HD and Cd drives are listed as so you may need to list once before you put the usb stick in and once ater. I had issues inserting the usb drive in single-user mode and it would freeze up the root drive)
6: /sbin/mount_msdos /dev/disk1s1 /Volumes/usb (this mounts the usb drive, i had to use msdos because of how my usb drive was formatted, you may need to check your usb drive format, hfs is the apple format for usb drives but it did not work for me)
7: cp /Volumes/usb/SecUpd2009-001Intel.dmg (this copies the files from the usb drive to the root drivel, at this point you no longer need the usb drive)
8: hdiutil mount /SecUpd2009-001Intel.dmg (this mounts the disk image)
9: cd /Volumes/"Security Update 2009-001" (after i mounted the image this is how it appeared in the Volumes directory, you might need to do ls /Volumes to get the name, the quotes are important to get the whole file directory changed)
10: installer -pkg SecUpd2009-001Intel.pkg -target / (this installs the acutal update, i used the SecUpd2009-001Intel.pkg and it worked though I think you might be able to use "Security Update 2009-001" with quotes as well.)
11: reboot
i hope this helps anyone looking to do this. Thanks again to those who helpes and all the other posts that had information that helped me identify and then fix my issue! I still love my mac.

Back up files through Single user mode

Hello there,
it seems that I have problem with my hard drive. I tried to repair it with disk utility and the fsck command in Single user mode with no luck. The fsck command gives me the "Exited with signal 8" message and it won't start up the usual way or under Safe boot so I came to the conclusion to back up my files on an external drive and reinstall the system. I need step by step instructions how to back up the entire hard drive onto the external drive in Single User mode.

Do you have another mac with firewire?
Try target disk mode.
If you have a second Mac computer, you may want to try to copy over as many files you can. One way is to use target disk mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://lowendmac.com/misc/06/0710.html
This requires you to use your installation disk. With errors from fdsk, I do not think you will be able to copy all directories. I used a flash drive. A harddrive should be the same. To copy everything, use the directory /Volumes/Macintosh-HD
You may try to recover your data by booting up an installation cd/dvd and using the terminal.
You could try getting into the Unix command line interface and copy some files or directories.
You can copy files on the Unix command line interface if you placed the flash drive the USB port before powering on your machine.
Boot up your installation CD or DVD. To do this, place to the CD or DVD its drive. Power off the the machine. Hold down the c key then power on your machine. After you specify the language you will come to the installation panel. Do not install. Go to the top of the screen and click on the tools menu item. Click on Terminal to use the command line interface.
You should verify that the files have been copied correctly by trying them in another Mac before it the deleting the original.
*Here is an overview of the commands.*
Lets assume that the problem account has a short user name of mac.
#Copy directory "/Applications/Applescript files" to
# directory "/Volumes/Spotless/Applescript files".
# "Spotless" is my flash drive.
ditto -X -rsrc /Applications/Applescript\ files /Volumes/Spotless/Applescript\ files
#cd is change directory
cd /Volumes/COPYIT/answers/
# pwd is print working directory
pwd
#the ls command is for list
# l is long
# a to show hidden files. not shown in this example.
# F is type of file where / is directory
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -lF
Here is what these commands mean:
cd is change directory
pwd is a print working directory
ls is list
sudo is Super user do
# The sudo command will ask for your administration password. No characters will appear when typing your password. Press return when done typing.
cp is copy
copy a file example:
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# cp -i answers.txt /Volumes/SpotMore
Will copy the file answers.txt in the directory SpotMore.
Some files have a space in the name. You need to escape. see example:
mac $ ls -l ~/"see it"
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 3171 Oct 26 23:38 /Users/mac/see it
mac $
mac $ cd /Users/mac/Desktop/ttt\ html\ copy/
Do you know about tabing? Type in a few letters of a name then press the tab key. The computer will type out the rest of the name if it is unique.
The up arrow key will retrive the previous command. You the left arror and right arror keys to move around. Use the delete key to delete a character to the left.
<eol>
*More examples and moving around*
sh-2.05b# pwd
sh-2.05b# ls /Volumes
.Trashes Classic Macintosh-HD
._.Trashes Mac OS X Install DVD SpotMore
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk4s3 2.6G 2.5G 89M 97% /
devfs 121K 121K 0B 100% /dev
fdesc 1.0K 1.0K 0B 100% /dev
<volfs> 512K 512K 0B 100% /.vol
/dev/disk5 467K 9.0K 435K 2% /Volumes
/dev/disk6 95K 64K 27K 70% /private/var/tmp
/dev/disk7 95K 14K 77K 15% /private/var/run
/dev/disk3s1 3.7G 1.3G 2.5G 34% /Volumes/SpotMore
/dev/disk0s10 1.1G 1.1G 3.4M 100% /Volumes/Classic
/dev/disk0s12 70G 45G 25G 65% /Volumes/Macintosh-HD
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/SpotMore/
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/SpotMore
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -l
total 880
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 6148 Sep 10 2010 .DS_Store
drw------- 4 unknown unknown 136 Aug 25 2010 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 3 2010 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wt 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 10 2010 .Trashes
drwx------ 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 3 2010 Desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 18944 Aug 27 2010 Desktop DB
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 2 Jul 29 2010 Desktop DF
-rwxrwxrwx 1 unknown unknown 26281 Oct 27 2009 Warranty Information.PDF
drwxr-xr-x 13 unknown unknown 442 Aug 4 2010 backup
drwxr-xr-x 13 unknown unknown 442 Aug 4 2010 backupPrior
drwxr-xr-x 7 unknown unknown 238 Aug 27 2010 cons
drwxr-xr-x 65 unknown unknown 2210 Sep 4 2010 iMac-back
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls
Z2300 iMac
.DS_Store move
.FBCIndex new Belward
.FBCLockFolder primary-comments-new copy.doc
Consolidate-rc primary-comments-new.doc
Downloads psc 1200
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b# ditto -X -rsrc iMac /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -h /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back/
total 2800
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 24K Sep 12 2010 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 2K Apr 18 2010 Differentiate Between Models .html
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# ls
Z2300 iMac
.DS_Store move
.FBCIndex new Belward
.FBCLockFolder primary-comments-new copy.doc
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b#

Wipe a HD via Unix in Single User Mode?

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