Files changing to unix executable files in leopard!

I'm having files show up as UNIX EXECUTABLE FILES in Leopard. these are Quark Xpress files and a few tiff files.
These were backup files sent from a client on a Mac, there were compressed using Zip software. Also the same files that were not compressed are DOCUMENT files.
What is happening that Leopard can not recognize these files?
I tried removing "com.apple.LaunchServices" files

I found that a number of Windows files copied across to an external HFS+ hard disk from a Windows PC using MacDrive showed as Unix executables.
It turned out that they files had Execute permissions set for all users.
You can change the "Execute" setting using chmod in the terminal, but a simpler solution is to install FileUtilsCM, a free context menu control available from http://www.abracode.com/free/cmworkshop/file_utils.html
It offers a variety of high level controls, including remove file type and creator; remove resource fork; clear "execute" Unix attribute.
I found this fixed the problem for my files. The "clear execute" control fixed the file type, and the "remove type & creator" command converted the type back to Plain text from Document.
I don't know if it will work for your problem, but could be worth a try. Works in Leopard 10.5.1 for me.
Slightly more control is available from Super Get Info from Barebones http://www.barebones.com/products/super/index.shtml
That's not free, however, but it does allow you to set the file type and creator.
DN

Similar Messages

File type changed to Unix Executable File

Hello:
I restored a corrupt Word file from a back-up drive (files are backed up using a special rsync that splits data and metadata forks. I did not assemble the two forks before copying the file back to the production volume) into a production folder in a local machine. Now when I browse the volume from my networked computer all Word files without extensions show up as Unix Executable Files. I've cleared the Launch services in the networked machine with no results. If I browse from other networked computers file types are set correctly. The problem seems to be with this specific networked machine. What an I do to restore file types as they should be? Please, note the problem seems to be with the client machine not the file server.

Thanks, Kappy. I've tried that but I get an error message saying "An error ocurred while changing...because not enough information is available." Could that mean that the action cannot be done because these files don't have extensions? When I go ahead and select to use Word to always open the file it only takes effect on that file. But the file remains a Unix Executable file.
Could anyone provide any further help with this issue?
Message was edited by: Karkula

HELP! Indesign changes to Unix executable file

I have a Mac Xeon Dual core quad pro running an older Mac OSX and have recently bought a Macbook running OS 10.6.
On my old mac I use Indesign / Illustrator / Photoshop CS3 (no money to upgrade yet) and all works fine.
This week I transferred some Indesign files to my laptop to work in another office. The files show up as Unix executable files. They have the correct tags on the end of filenames and work fine on the old mac. Indesign and Illustrator have also been crashing on startup and I have had to dump out prefs twice now.
Illustrator files show up as Unix executable file as well and all have a grey icon.
I migrated everything over from the old mac to the laptop.
It is driving me mad as I have to trust that I can work on this out of the office.
If I upgrade to a newer version of the programmes will it solve the problem?
Any help gratefully received please!
PS I am a designer, so please use simple language - I do not have a lot of techie knowledge about macs
Thanks!

Thanks, Kappy. I've tried that but I get an error message saying "An error ocurred while changing...because not enough information is available." Could that mean that the action cannot be done because these files don't have extensions? When I go ahead and select to use Word to always open the file it only takes effect on that file. But the file remains a Unix Executable file.
Could anyone provide any further help with this issue?
Message was edited by: Karkula

Saved format changed to Unix Executable

I have a file saved on a CD that I wanted to get in to but found it is now a Unix Executable file. I have no idea what is going on with this - it was originally (probably) a simple text or text edit file .... maybe a word file but doubt it.
Why is it now this Unix file format - any ideas how something like this happens.
Very confused here.
MDD 1G-DP; G4 450; FP iMac 800; Cube Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Doing some detective work in google and found some info. Does anyone know the type and creator codes for SimpleText or TextEdit.
This link
http://www.leisterpro.com/doc/version8/questions/answers/upgradeproblems.php
has a link to some freeware that may be what I need if I knew the type and creator codes.
TY

Unix executable file- in backup email files

Hello,
I've searched the discussions and found a few posts that resemble my question but nothing exactly/ nothing suggested has worked so far.
I have entire email files backed up to a LaCie drive- 2 actually. All of the email backup icons have been changed to "Unix executable file"- the icon is a grey box with "exec" on it.
The promising side is that the files are still large- 301 mgs, etc- so I would think there is still information in the file.
I've tried going into "Info" and changing "open with" to entourage or thunderbird. Or even Excel to see if I could get a tab delimited file and convert. Nothing has worked so far.
I've seen this before with other types of backup files as well. I haven't changed operating systems, have only been working on Macs, this has happened both on a wireless ethernet disk and a firewire drive.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
jz

Hi,
Never fear! Your original MacOS disks should include the developer tools. They call it xcode these days. By default it should install extra command line utilities in /Developer/Tools. So really the command should look like:
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -t 'TEXT' -c 'CSOm' your_mbox
You can add /Developer/Tools to your $PATH variable to avoid the extra typing. But you can do that later. Just replace your_mbox with the path to one of your Eudora mail boxes that you've copied back to your harddrive.
Cole

Unix executable documents

I was in the process of transfering documents from one Mac (eMac OS10.2) to an iBook (OS10.0 but mostly use classic 9.2). I used a travel drive that I have used numerous times with no problems. Some of the documents (word & powerpoint) changed to Unix Executable Documents while others did not.
I have no idea how this happened but I really need to open these documents! I have average comupter knowledge but this one stumps me as I have never seen this before. Can anyone help me at all...PLEASE?

What version of Mac OS were you using when you wrote the files to the FAT32-formatted drive: OS X or OS 9?
If you were using OS X when you wrote the files to the drive, you must use an OS X computer to "look" at the files. Only an OS X Mac will be able to "see" the files properly. If you attempt to use the drive in an OS 9 Mac, the files written to it in OS X will appear improperly and won't work.
On the other hand, if you were using Mac OS 9 when you wrote the files to the drive, you will only be able to "see" the files properly from another OS 9 Mac. If you attempt to use the drive in OS X, the files written to it in OS 9 will appear as generic documents or as UNIX executable files, and will not be usable.
You've mentioned OS X 10.2, 10.0, and OS 9, but there's no way a file could appear as a UNIX executable file in any version of OS X prior to OS X 10.3.x, as that is when Apple first started labeling files as such. Prior to that, they would simply be a generic document.
It's quite possible that your files are not corrupt, and are still accessible, but we need precise details on what versions of Mac OS you were using and are currently using.
PS. Using the Get Info window to mark your preferred application is unlikely to fix this issue, since there is an underlying problem that we need to deal with. But we need more details to even begin with that.
Dual 2.7GHz PowerPC G5 w/ 2.5 GB RAM; 17" MacBook Pro w/ 2 GB RAM - Mac OS X (10.4.7)

TextEdit files' Kind is "Unix Executable"--how do I change this?

For some mysterious reason, a whole bunch of my TextEdit files now show up as Unix Executable files! I'd like to change the Kind of these files, so they once again are identified as Rich Text Format (RTF) or SimpleText documents.
I was able to change their extension, so at least they now open up in TextEdit when I double-click them, but I'd like them to show up as well when I search for Kind, or list files by Kind.
Any suggestions of how to change this would be welcome!

OK, I figured out a quick and dirty method. Open each file in TextEdit and save it. It changes the kind back to TextEdit.
First, open several files at once in TextEdit (do that by dragging the files to the TextEdit icon--if you double-click they'll open up the Terminal which you don't want.) Then, it's a simple matter of keeping your finger on the Apple (command) key, while you alternate between pressing S (for command-s for save) and W (for command-w for close). You can sit there mindlessly going through the rhythm, back and forth, and process dozens very quickly!
In case anyone else runs into this problem, here's a way of finding all the Unix Executable files. Go to your Documents folder. Do a Find (command-F), pick Documents folder, select Search by Kind, select Other, and type in Unix Executable. Voila! A list of those files. Save the search so that you can repeat this as needed. (I also discovered that you can search for contents and type in Unix Executable and find them.)
WARNING: BE CAREFUL! Some of the files may not be textedit files! Or you'd rather have them open up in another program such as Word. So, you'd have to do the open, save, close shuffle via that other program.
Alright! I just discovered some more in another folder (I hadn't started with Documents). So I'm off to fix those, too!
Still, there must be a good batch processor somewhere (freebie hopefully) that would convert the Kind quickly. (And here I don't mean the type and creator as some of these files showed TXT and .txt but still had their Kind as Unix Executable.)

Old Font Files in Leopard showing up as Unix Executable File

Is there any way I can make the computer be able to use and open the font files that now are being seen as Unix Executable Files even though they worked just fine as fonts before I upgraded to 10.5. I've tried putting new file extensions on them, or telling them to be opened with font book. I'm not sure what else to do, we have hundreds if not thousands of fonts that we need and that our customers need us to be able to use.

Thanks soo much everyone for all the help.
I've installed reset permissions, reset LaunchServices using OnyX, rebooted, and files are still "unix executable" to start with. I then used FileUtils app to "Clear Executible Status," which makes them open in txt editor, and say they are 0kb in size. I then renamed the extentions, playing around with a bunch of different types, and no luck at all with any of them.
Here is a screen shot (http://180bydesign.com/uploads/Picture5.png) of my folder (at top) with a list of fonts, and fontbook.app (at bottom) when I try to add a font from that location. No luck.
PS - here's something weird... I had a friend w/ Tiger send me a font suitcase which he zipped, and it did same thing, but then he zipped it twice (wierd, I know) and it worked! I unzipped the first one, then unzipped the second file within that first one, and WALLA, the suitcase actually looked and acted like a font. This doesn't help at all with all the other saved files, but it certainly helps. I might open a pc & try to double zip all the old ones & see if that does the trick.

Photoshop .psd files converted to Unix Executable files

I'm an illustrator and I store my art on CDs and DVDs. After a period of time my files are converted from Photoshop .psd files to Unix Executable files and I can't open them. What can I do to get my work back??? -and keep this from happening in the future. Why does it do this????
Thanks for any help.

The file sizes range from 22.2 MB to 67.9 MB.
Size isn't the issue then. Linc was asking that question because we see that with other file types. Older fonts in particular, which have all of their data in the resource fork. If that gets stripped, you end up with a zero byte file.
Does that mean I'll have to go through the Adobe authorization process for Photoshop again?
If the version of Photoshop you're currently using is already activated, then no. Either way, it has nothing to do with .psd files showing as UNIX executables.
In Windows, any file that doesn't have an association to a program is displayed as a white, dog-eared piece of paper with the Windows logo in the middle. That's Windows' way of saying, "I have no idea what this is." In OS X, (except for those files which actually are UNIX executables), displaying them as such is OS X's way of saying the same thing.
I thought I was home free when the icon changed to a thumbnail picture of the illustration, but PS refuses to open it saying it is not a Photoshop file. ???
Now that is weird. As of Snow Leopard, Apple put the old Type and Creator codes to rest. It will read them as a last resort to try and identify an older file, but none of Apple's applications add them to any file they save. For better compatibility with Windows, and OS X's own underlying UNIX core, file extensions have taken their place. So adding a .psd extension should have worked. Without playing with one of your files, I couldn't tell you why Photoshop declared it wasn't a valid .psd image.
On a side note, Apple added Uniform Type Identifiers to OS X to keep things separate. A big problem in Windows is that multiple apps may use the same file extension. EPS is a big one in printing. So you have Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, Quark and others all using .eps for Encapsulated PostScript files. However, Windows can only associate one application to any given extension. So if Illustrator happens to be the one tagged to .eps files, it will try to open any file ending in .eps, no matter what program actually created it. OS X keeps them separate with Uniform Type Identifiers. So even though multiple files may have .eps file extensions, the extra metadata keeps track of what program it actually belongs to.
This is what is part of the LaunchServices database, and was why it was my first suggestion. If that database is wonky, you'll see weird things like this. Have you tried clearing it yet?
The files are fine when newly burned to CD. It is only months, or years, later that they become Unix Executable Files. This has happened to just about all of my CD backups and it's frustrating to think that CD backup doesn't work across newer OSs and Photoshop upgrades. I suspect that may be the problem, but it just shouldn't happen.
That shouldn't make a difference. I've got a bunch of very old files created in Photoshop back from OS 8 on CD. No file extensions, as nothing did at the time. Just Type and Creator codes. They all open fine in PS CS5.5 in Snow Leopard, though the native Photoshop files do need to have a .psd extension added.

Fonts problems (unix executable file)

Hi,
I've a mac os x 10.4.11(tiger) G5 and a new mac os x 10.5.2(leopard)Imac both connected on a server.
I've many differents fonts on the server. On the G5, I can take all the fonts on the server, put them on my desktop and they will keep their extensions. On the Imac, when i do the same, only the *.ttf et *.otf are recognized, and all the others (font suitcase, postscript type 1 outline font, etc...) are known as unix executable file (0 ko). So, i've to go on my G5, create a zip file of the fonts, open my zip on my desktop's Imac (not on my server, because same problem) and then I've all my fonts with the right extension.
My font software is (on my both mac) is Linotype FontExplorer X Version 1.2.3.
What I've to do, to proceed in the same way on my Imac as on my G5, and not create a zip?
Thanks

I knew this sounded familiar. Mark Douma posted this on a very similar thread a while back.<hr>Notice the "__MACOSX" folder in the expanded archive? That's evidence that the original archive was created using the built-in "Create Archive" function of the Finder, but that the archive on your end was expanded using Stuffit Expander 8.0.1 or earlier.
ZIP files don't normally support resource forks, so when you create a zip file of fonts, the program needs to some method of preserving this information. In Stuffit Expander versions 8.0.1 and earlier, it used its own method to preserve this information (before creating the final zip file, it would first encode each included file as a MacBinary (.bin) file).
Unfortunately, the built-in "Create Archive" feature of the Finder (BomArchiveHelper.app, actually) uses a different method, one which you're seeing evidence in the "__MACOSX" folder in the images shown. Inside that folder are the "other halves" of the files you want to use.
There are two possible solutions:
1) Instead of using Stuffit Expander to expand the .zip files, use the built-in feature of OS X. To do this, select a .zip file in the Finder, and choose Command-i to open a Get Info window. In the Open With section, make sure that "BomArchiveHelper.app" (Tiger and earlier) or "Archive Utility.app" (Leopard) is set to open the archives. If it isn't, click the pop-up menu, choose Other, and navigate to the /System/Library/CoreServices/ folder and choose the appropriate application for your version of OS X. Then click the Change All button to apply this to all .zip files. Then locate the original .zip and expand it once again.
2) Update your version of Stuffit Expander to version 8.0.2 or later. Allume changed the method it used to preserve information in zip files to match that of the Finder's method in Expander 8.0.2 and later. After updating, locate the original .zip file and expand it once again.
There may also be an advanced way of salvaging these files shown toward the end of the following movie.
The following movie shows the predicament (I haven't had a chance to add sound or text, but it should hopefully be self-explanatory).
Notice the version of Stuffit Expander used to expand the archive is 8.0, which exhibits the same problematic behavior you're seeing:
http://homepage.mac.com/mdouma46/images/zipFilesAndFonts.mov (~8.0 MB).
Hope this helps.... <hr>
Essentially, it's all in how the fonts were compressed or sent. Trying to send Mac fonts as direct attachments in an email will almost certainly ruin them. As Mark stated above, how they were zipped and then unzipped can also create empty fonts.

How to open unix executable AVCHD file

I recently shot some video with a Panasonic Lumix GH1 for the first time. The files are AVCHD files but my imac calls them unix executable files when I open the SD card from the camera . The SD card lists the files with an extension of .MTS.
Even though imovie 11 is supposed to open AVCHD files, imovie is "grayed out" in the list of options my imac gives me for opening these files.
itunes was given as an option and when I chose that option, all the unix executable files were changed on the SD card to iTunesDocuments .
however iTunes doesn't open them either. I don't have Final Cut Pro.
I would like to edit this material using either imovie11 or imoveHD, both of which I have on this Snow Leopard computer.
The resulting videos will be projected for exhibition.
Can anyone help me?
Many thanks.

have you seen this topic?
downloading mts files in imovie9
there is a further link there as well.

Word documents appear as "unix executable files" and cannot be opened

Hi: I am running 10.5.5 on my Intel Imac. The problem is that many old MS Word documents have suddenly flipped into documents with no file extension, but which are identified in the Preview window as "unix executable files."
I've had this happen before, and all I had to do was add the .doc extension for them to become Word documents again. This time there is nothing I can do to change them over. I have tried opening them from Word, from Pages, from Text Edit, with no results. (I have also used all the possibilities available from Word as well).
There doesn't seem to be any pattern -- random documents in the same folder, created at the same time and modified at the same time, appear as unix files, while the others seem fine. Any ideas?
<Post Relocated by Moderator>

This is the iWeb forum. You should post your question in the Leopard forum. But I'll give a try at a possible solution:
1 - check the Finder preferences and make sure you have the option to show file extensions checked.
2 - select one of the Work files, type Command+i and in the Info window go to the Open With menu and select Word as the default application. Then click on the Apply to All... button.
OT

Final Cut Pro Unix Executable file??? what do i do?

Hey All,
So I wanted to dig up an old movie i edited in 2003 so i took out the old IMac. I found the Final Cut Pro 2 sequence on there but because all the footage (capture scratch, etc.) is saved to an external hard drive i need to reconnect the material to the sequence. i hooked up my WD My Book drive to my G5 to find the clips and sure enough i backed them up on this hard drive (37 gb worth) awhile ago but for some reason all the clips say they're Unix Executable Files? Why did this happen when i backed them up instead of them staying as Quicktime files?
So here are my questions...
Tonight when i go home I want to be able to open up the FCP sequence on Final Cut Pro Studio 2 (fcp7)...will this be possible to open up an FCP 2 sequence that many versions later?
Also, please tell me why the quicktime clips did this? When i do File-->Get Info-->change open with Terminal to Quicktime they play but how will i get them to reconnect to FCP?? Do i need to go one by one and add .mov extension??
I'm very confused...i would rather not have to do the editing on the 2003 machine..i'd like to get it to work on my newest computer (27inch imac).
Can i attach a newer external that the clips are on to the old mac?
Thank you,
Jenna

..will this be possible to open up an FCP 2 sequence that many versions later?
Yes.
Do i need to go one by one and add .mov extension??
Use my [Automator Action|https://files.me.com/nikholmes/0ge9cr] which will rename them for you -Just choose the correct folder in the "Start At" section. Link is a direct download from my iDisk.
Can i attach a newer external that the clips are on to the old mac?
Of course.

Unix executable files out of nowhere

About 1.5 weeks ago, my Mac suddenly started telling me that files belonging to the Preps application (a prepress app) were Unix executables. This version of Preps runs in Classic. These files are generated from a Windows PC and saved to an XServe. It has been fine for months and months and then suddenly switched over. The files can only be opened through the File Menu. If the files are resaved with Preps on the local Mac directly to the XServe, all is well again. The file names all have the appropriate extensions. The Get Info method does not stick. Cocktail doesn't work. Clearing caches, repairing permissions, rebuilding the Desktop– none of it resolves the issue. Nothing was changed on the Mac, the server or the PC prior to the problem.

Harley:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. In the file export window have you selected jpg or "original format" and have the Add extension checkbox checked?
Do the exported files have a extension? If so and it's jpg, then select on and bring up the Info window for it (Command-I). Then under default application select Preview and click on the Apply to all.. button. If you prefer to use a 3rd party editor like Photoshop or PS Elements then select that and click on the Apply to all... button. But the files should have an extension.
Do you Twango?
G5 Dual Core 2GHz, 2G RAM, 250G HD; G4 Dual 1Ghz, 1.5G RAM, 80G HD, Mac OS X (10.4.6) 22 LCD Display, 200G & 160G FW HDs, Canon S400, i850 & LIDE 50, Epson R200

Why did all my files suddenly become UNIX Executable Files?

After reformatting my hard drive and installing Panther server, I restored the Retrospect back up of files to my home directory. Unfortunately, all the files that didn't have suffixes (eg: .doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.) suddenly had their icons replaced with an icon of a black console with the word "exec" typed in. And their kind was lost and all became: UNIX Executable File.
Ever since this Panther server has been acting eratically.
I have been able to resurrect the affected files by opening them in their native application and resaving them with the proper suffix. But there are thousands of files and dozens of applications that could have made each file.
Is there a way to resurrect these files without having to open and resave every single file in its native application one at a time? Could these thousands of UNIX Executable Files be causing problems for Panther server?
Thanks for your input.
Gregg

Hi TropicalReef,
At some point during your backup/restore process the executable bit was set on your files. This should not cause a problem with the overall performance of the operating system. But to some extent this is a security risk. There are a number of GUI applications that can change file permission. I recommend you download one and remove the executable bit from your files. Read the developers documentation carefully. Changing file permission especially in batch mode can be very dangerous.
The easiest way to make you files double clickable is to add the appropriate suffix to the file name. Again there a number of shareware and freeware apps that will do this. Check MacUpdate and VersionTracker.

Files changing to unix executable files in leopard!

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