HELP! Missing system folders....

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hello,



Lately, my Mac has been acting all kinds of crazy... (latest thing is that I cannot restore my iPhone from backup)



Anyway, I read in the forums and saw that I should find the private/var folders



Anyway, I can't find these folders anyway. I understand they are supposed to be under the HD's root folder but they are no where to be found.



If I use MacPilot's to show hidden files, I can see the Var folder but it has no "Media" folder in it (and am I supposed to use a 3rd party software to show this folder anyway?)



Please help me...!
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Did you do anything to your home folder like change usernames or something? The backup folder shouldn't have anything to do with /private/var (which you can open using the go menu in the Finder and go to folder).



    The iphone backups are in home/Library/MobileSync/backup. The music, apps, contacts etc are stored in their usual locations, this is mainly the other stuff like what apps you have, SMS etc.
  • Reply 2 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    My iTunes doesn't seem to find the old backups I did - in order to restore my phone from the backup.

    Any idea what the problem may be? Can I rescue the backups somehow?
  • Reply 3 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Did you do anything to your home folder like change usernames or something? The backup folder shouldn't have anything to do with /private/var (which you can open using the go menu in the Finder and go to folder).



    The iphone backups are in home/Library/MobileSync/backup. The music, apps, contacts etc are stored in their usual locations, this is mainly the other stuff like what apps you have, SMS etc.



    Thanks for the reply.

    However, I used TimeMachine to restore the MobileSync folder to a month ago status, but iTunes still doesn't let me restore anything from backup (preferences/devices/device backups/ is empty)



    Any idea? :/
  • Reply 4 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Did you do anything to your home folder like change usernames or something? The backup folder shouldn't have anything to do with /private/var (which you can open using the go menu in the Finder and go to folder).



    The iphone backups are in home/Library/MobileSync/backup. The music, apps, contacts etc are stored in their usual locations, this is mainly the other stuff like what apps you have, SMS etc.



    BTW: is that VAR folder really only accessible from the "go to folder" menu on the Finder? Why is that? What other folders are like that?



    Thanks again
  • Reply 5 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Thanks for the reply.

    However, I used TimeMachine to restore the MobileSync folder to a month ago status, but iTunes still doesn't let me restore anything from backup (preferences/devices/device backups/ is empty)



    Any idea? :/



    If you had a corrupted backup, restoring an old one maybe brought in a backup from an earlier version of itunes. Try moving the mobilesync folder to another location like the desktop and doing an iphone backup. Then try copying (not moving) some of the files inside the desktop mobilesync folder back in that don't already exist and do a restore from backup.



    What folder is the preferences/devices/device backups? I don't have that folder. Is that in the home folder or /Library?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    BTW: is that VAR folder really only accessible from the "go to folder" menu on the Finder? Why is that? What other folders are like that?



    They are accessible other ways like via the terminal or showing invisible items. They are hidden because they are part of the unix system that normal users don't usually need to access.



    There are a few like that: HFS+ directory data, Spotlight data, temporary items, trashes, Network, automount, bin, cores, dev, etc, mach stuff, private, tmp, usr, var (this is a shortcut to private/var).
  • Reply 6 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    If you had a corrupted backup, restoring an old one maybe brought in a backup from an earlier version of itunes. Try moving the mobilesync folder to another location like the desktop and doing an iphone backup. Then try copying (not moving) some of the files inside the desktop mobilesync folder back in that don't already exist and do a restore from backup



    Thanks again.



    Mobilesync-backup has several folders in it that each seem to contain a backup. After I re-create this folder, should I move the older folders inside it, or perhaps take one of the current folders and copy additional files inside?
  • Reply 7 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Thanks again.



    Mobilesync-backup has several folders in it that each seem to contain a backup. After I re-create this folder, should I move the older folders inside it, or perhaps take one of the current folders and copy additional files inside?



    Btw: if I do this change, should I also leave the cuurent files in the mobilesync backup folder I'd just replace everything with the older versions?
  • Reply 8 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Thanks again.



    Mobilesync-backup has several folders in it that each seem to contain a backup. After I re-create this folder, should I move the older folders inside it, or perhaps take one of the current folders and copy additional files inside?



    If you have several backups, do they all fail to restore?



    The steps I'd say to try would be to move the folders inside the Mobilesync folder somewhere else but safe. Then backup your iphone using a sync. This should make a new folder in the MobileSync folder.



    Then copy the files inside one of the numbered folders into the newly made backup folder but don't replace any files that already exist. Then try to restore your iphone with that backup.
  • Reply 9 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    If you have several backups, do they all fail to restore?



    The steps I'd say to try would be to move the folders inside the Mobilesync folder somewhere else but safe. Then backup your iphone using a sync. This should make a new folder in the MobileSync folder.



    Then copy the files inside one of the numbered folders into the newly made backup folder but don't replace any files that already exist. Then try to restore your iphone with that backup.



    Nothing "fails" iTunes just doesn't display any backups that I can choose from.



    And of course I always did backup and it used to work (worked just fine when I upgraded to 2.2)
  • Reply 10 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    If you had a corrupted backup, restoring an old one maybe brought in a backup from an earlier version of itunes. Try moving the mobilesync folder to another location like the desktop and doing an iphone backup. Then try copying (not moving) some of the files inside the desktop mobilesync folder back in that don't already exist and do a restore from backup.



    What folder is the preferences/devices/device backups? I don't have that folder. Is that in the home folder or /Library?







    They are accessible other ways like via the terminal or showing invisible items. They are hidden because they are part of the unix system that normal users don't usually need to access.



    There are a few like that: HFS+ directory data, Spotlight data, temporary items, trashes, Network, automount, bin, cores, dev, etc, mach stuff, private, tmp, usr, var (this is a shortcut to private/var).



    I moved MobileSync into the desktop and performed another backup. The MobileSync folder was recreated, but the "device backups" list of iTunes is still empty and I cannot perform a restore... :/
  • Reply 11 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    I moved MobileSync into the desktop and performed another backup. The MobileSync folder was recreated, but the "device backups" list of iTunes is still empty and I cannot perform a restore... :/



    Did you unplug the iphone? If not you should unplug and then plug it in and then hit the sync button. This should create a restorable backup in the list. You might have to make some changes to your iphone for it to be backed up such as install an app or send an SMS.
  • Reply 12 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Did you unplug the iphone? If not you should unplug and then plug it in and then hit the sync button. This should create a restorable backup in the list. You might have to make some changes to your iphone for it to be backed up such as install an app or send an SMS.



    A backup did occur (The MobileSync folder was recreated and the backup folder inside it contains files). The problem is that the backups list of iTunes is empty and I've got no restore option...
  • Reply 13 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    A backup did occur (The MobileSync folder was recreated and the backup folder inside it contains files). The problem is that the backups list of iTunes is empty and I've got no restore option...



    It's odd that it backs up files to that location but doesn't put them in the list. The list is directly related to the MobileSync folder because if I move the contents of that folder on mine, the backups list becomes empty.



    Perhaps your itunes installation or preferences is messed up somehow. If you don't have the latest version of itunes, try updating to that first.



    Then quit itunes and try moving the preferences to trash. Do a spotlight search for com.apple.itunes to find them quickly - you can move all of them to trash. Then open itunes back up again.
  • Reply 14 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    It's odd that it backs up files to that location but doesn't put them in the list. The list is directly related to the MobileSync folder because if I move the contents of that folder on mine, the backups list becomes empty.



    Perhaps your itunes installation or preferences is messed up somehow. If you don't have the latest version of itunes, try updating to that first.



    Then quit itunes and try moving the preferences to trash. Do a spotlight search for com.apple.itunes to find them quickly - you can move all of them to trash. Then open itunes back up again.



    Should I conduct this search from any special place? Performing this search from the main Finder window returns zero results
  • Reply 15 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Should I conduct this search from any special place? Performing this search from the main Finder window returns zero results



    This is weird... I'm finding other com.apple files but no com.apple.itunes...



    What does it mean? Any way to reproduce it? (TimeMachine also seems to find nothing)
  • Reply 16 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    This is weird... I'm finding other com.apple files but no com.apple.itunes...



    What does it mean? Any way to reproduce it? (TimeMachine also seems to find nothing)



    If you go into your home folder/library/preferences, the files should be there. If you were searching the root of the computer, or even the home folder, those files should have appeared.
  • Reply 17 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    If you go into your home folder/library/preferences, the files should be there. If you were searching the root of the computer, or even the home folder, those files should have appeared.



    Anyway, I found the file on that path you mentioned and deleted it. Opened iTunes again and it was recreated. However the backups still do not show up.... (I initiated another backup of course)



    Besides, why couldn't I find that com.apple.itunes file through Spotlight? I've got other weird things going on lately... I can no longer right-click a file, choose the Automator menu and then pick one of the options (nothing shows under the Automator menu - Besides "Create Workflow - even after I create a new one and save as a plugin)



    In short - My system has been acting crazy in the last few weeks... I've got no clue what's going on!
  • Reply 18 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Anyway, I found the file on that path you mentioned and deleted it. Opened iTunes again and it was recreated. However the backups still do not show up.... (I initiated another backup of course)



    Besides, why couldn't I find that com.apple.itunes file through Spotlight? I've got other weird things going on lately... I can no longer right-click a file, choose the Automator menu and then pick one of the options (nothing shows under the Automator menu - Besides "Create Workflow - even after I create a new one and save as a plugin)



    In short - My system has been acting crazy in the last few weeks... I've got no clue what's going on!



    Another example - I cannot empty my trash. It seems to be doing something (the progress bar which shows how many files are left is displaying a diminishing amount of files) - but eventually nothing happens and the trash remain full.



    All these things make me think something's bad with my file system (although I'm a new Mac user). I've tried repairing permissions many times. also ran that "Vertify disk" option.



    Any suggestions what can be done to deal with this?
  • Reply 19 of 23
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Any suggestions what can be done to deal with this?



    One thing to try is make a new user and log in as them and try doing an empty trash, iphone backup etc.
  • Reply 20 of 23
    lirandlirand Posts: 174member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    One thing to try is make a new user and log in as them and try doing an empty trash, iphone backup etc.



    I tried this a while ago and some of the things that don't work for me now under any circumstances - work for the new user. What does that mean? How come a user "gets broken"? Any way to fix it?



    BTW: Thanks a lot for your help and patience, man
Sign In or Register to comment.