Rename a locked folder with Terminal

Hi,
I have a folder /usr/local/php5/ and I want to rename it /usr/local/php5Apache1.3/ to install a new package.
How do I do that since I don't have write access to /local/ ?
Thank you much

Hi Dimitryous,
   If you don't have permissions to do it, use "sudo" to do it as a user that does have permissions. The command would be:
sudo mv /usr/local/php5 /usr/local/php5Apache1.3
Of course you have to be logged in as an admin user for this to work. When prompted for a password, you provide the password of that admin user.
   On the other hand, combining the source code of two packages in the same directory shouldn't work because they share a number of files. It is traditional to have a directory like /usr/local/src inside of which you put each package in its own directory. If the packages are not source code then it might not matter but it is still probably a good idea to save packages in their own directories.
Gary
~~~~
   Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately
   it kills all its pupils.
         -- Hector Berlioz

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Delete the locked folder with Terminal (in Applications > Utilities):
1. Open Terminal window
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3. Drag the offending folder into the terminal window. Its path should be entered after the text you have typed. Click in the Terminal window to switch back into Terminal (from Finder).
4. Press enter/return.
5. Type your admin password.
6. Wait until the prompt appears again (may take some time).
7. Quit Terminal.
Follow the above instructions *carefully and exactly* (rm -rf is capable of deleting anything).
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Hello,
I have a Macbook Pro with an SSD which has OSX Snow Leopard and my Applications, and the other hard drive has my Home Folder. I replaced the optical drive with the SSD.
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I don't have a setup to test this, but you might try the following:
Create a second "normal" admin account with its home folder on the boot drive, then log out of your regular account and log into the new one. From there you could rename the large hard drive, then go to System Preferences>Accounts, select the first account, then right-click>Advanced options to change its home directory path to match the new HD name. That way you're not changing the home folder path "in mid-air."
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Rename a folder with the house symbol

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Use this with great caution. If you get it wrong you'll need to re-install from scratch.
Backup all your data first.
How to enable the root user
Mac OS X v10.6 and later
    1.    From the Apple menu choose System Preferences....
    2.    From the View menu choose Accounts.
    3.    Click on the lock and authenticate with an administrator account.
    4.    Click Login Options....
    5.    Click the "Edit..." or "Join..." button at the bottom right.
    6.    Click the "Open Directory Utility..." button.
    7.    Click the lock in the Directory Utility window.
    8.    Enter an administrator account name and password, then click OK.
    9.    Choose Enable Root User from the Edit menu. (in the menu bar at the top of the screen)
    10.    Enter the root password you wish to use in both the Password and Verify fields, then click OK.
To change home folder short name
      1.    Enable the root user. (see above)
    2.    Log in as root. (at the login screen, choose "Other". Username is "root", password as you chose in step 1)
    3.    Navigate to the /Users folder.
    4.    Select the Home folder with the short name you want to change, and rename it just like you would rename any folder. Keep in mind that the shortname must be all lowercase, with no spaces, and only contain letters.
    5.    Use the Accounts pane in System Preferences to create a new user with the short name that you used in the previous step.
    6.    Click OK when "A folder in the Users folder already has the name 'short name'. Would you like to use that folder as the Home folder for this user account?" Note: This will correct the ownership of all files in the Home folder, and avoid permissions issues with the contents.
    7.    Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
    8.    Log in as the newly created user. You should be able to access all of your original files (on the desktop, in Documents, and in the other folders of this Home).
    9.    After verifying that your data is as expected, you can delete the original user account via the Accounts pane of System Preferences.
    10.    Disable the root user.
How to disable the root user
Mac OS X v10.6 and later
    1.    From the Apple menu choose System Preferences....
    2.    From the View menu choose Accounts.
    3.    Click on the lock and authenticate with an administrator account.
    4.    Click Login Options....
    5.    Click the "Edit..." or "Join..." button at the bottom right
    6.    Click the "Open Directory Utility..." button.
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    8.    Enter an administrator account name and password, then click OK.
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Make a note of the root password for future reference.

My older ibook g4 is locked up with an icon flashing. looks like a file folder flashing a blue and white face/question mark. what is this?

my older ibook g4 is locked up with an icon flashing. looks like a file folder flashing a blue and white face/question mark. what is this?

Apple's suggestions for dealing with the flashing question mark folder:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US
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Opening a folder with an application in one click, and automating Terminal

A forum member kindly recommended I move a question from 'Mac OS X Leopard' to this sub-forum as it was more appropriate to Unix:
Firstly, is it possible to create a desktop/dock icon (or perhaps a Safari or FireFox bookmark) that opens a folder with a certain application? I'm doing a lot of web development and hoping to create handy buttons for opening up entire folders (Ruby on Rails projects) with only one click. At the moment, I have to find the folder and drag it to the textmate icon; if I had a 'open in textmate' button, that would make my work so much quicker, as I'm often changing between projects. It would be even better if I could have the button as a bookmark in my browser (where I spend most of my time).
Secondly (probably related to the first question), is it possible to automate a process I follow every time I open up a Ruby on Rails project in Terminal (?);
1. Load Terminal by clicking on the icon in the dock
2. 'cd sites/rubyonrailsapp' (where 'rubyonrailsapp' is the rails application I want to load)
3. 'mate .' (opens the entire /rubyonrails/ folder in TextMate)
4. 'CMD + T' (to open up a new Terminal tab)
5. 'gitk --all &' (to open up the Wish version control interface for the rails application)
6. 'autotest' (to runs the tests in the rails application)
7. 'CMD + T' (to open up another new Terminal tab, ready for me to use)
If I could follow those steps with only one click, that would be amazing, so any suggestions are much appreciated (I just realised how many times-per-day I'm typing these commands).
Cheers

you can try this applescript. just copy it into the Script Editor and save it (1) as a script application that you can double-click, or (2) as a script that you can run from the script menu or quickkeys or etc. may need some tweaking...
<pre class="jive-pre">tell application "Terminal"
set cmd to "cd sites/rubyonrailsapp; mate ."
do script cmd
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "t" using command down
end tell
tell application "Terminal"
set cmd to "gitk --all & autotest;"
do script cmd
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "t" using command down
end tell</pre>
to solve your other question, you'll probably need to script textmate. something like:
<pre class="jive-pre">tell application "TextMate"
open alias "path:to:folder"
end tell</pre>
I don't have textmate to test it on, however.
sorry it's not a unix solution, but the task you're trying to accomplish fits better with applescript.
Message was edited by: twtwtw - sorry, wrong quote style...

File sharing problem with a PC . locked Folder Icons and funny things

Help was running Tiger fine then upgraded to leopard now my Macbook pro wont shut down properly unless i disconnect all the external USB devices that are attached.
I also used to be able to write to my shared folder on my Windows PC, this comes up on my mac Book pro now with a locked disk icon on it and i cant save to it. the folders inside it also start changing there icon appearance at will. and some times when i try to save a file to it it keeps telling me the file name is too long even if i change it to only one or two characters .
would not mind too much but this is my business thats being effected by this . I have tried it on 2 Imac
Dual core flat panel machine's which still run in tiger and everything is fine with both of these so i know its Leopard that has caused these faults. anyone with any help please let me know .
ian

*Same problem* here: MacBook on Tiger was fine, after installing Leo, unable to write on shared pc-folders (lock-icon).
There are 2 work-arounds I found:
1. uncheck the "protected" box in the info-panel (Mac) of a locked folder,
2. if the pc-folder had a custom icon, resetting to standard will unlock the write protection as well. In both cases, the folders on the pc will change their icons... I have to agree that this is a Leopard issue.
As I use the Mac for work and often have to exchange docs from and to pc's this "bug" is annoying me.
casp.

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Provide the computer's firmware password. If you don't know what it is, contact the person you got the computer from or Apple.
(91589)

Rename a locked folder with Terminal

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