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ONYX and Aliases
#48531 04/10/18 04:43 PM
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MG2009 Offline OP
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After I run AUTOMATION with Onyx, I find that many of the Aliases icons no longer function. If I click on an Alias, I get a popup message stating that the original cannot be located and would I like to "fix" the alias.

The only item in Onyx which I thought might be the culprit is "Appearance of Folder's Contents" . . . but I do not have that feature selected for Automation.

Any ideas how I can run Onyx and NOT have the Aliases get "broken" in the process?



Many thanks,
MG2009
Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48535 04/12/18 01:37 AM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
After I run AUTOMATION with Onyx, I find that many of the Aliases icons no longer function.

Many or all?

That said, if OnyX resets your LaunchServices Database, that may be the problem.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48537 04/12/18 01:58 PM
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A lot of people use OnyX and this is the first I have heard of this problem. Are you running the version of OnyX appropriate to the version of MacOS on your computer? OnyX is based on Unix utilities and those can change from version to version of MacOS so it is critical that your version of OnyX matches the version of MacOS.

If you have the appropriate version of OnyX then the standard troubleshooting technique would be to run automation with only one item selected. If that does not break your aliases turn the first item off and select another item. Repeat until the aliases break and you will have identified the culprit.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: ONYX and Aliases
artie505 #48540 04/12/18 03:52 PM
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As in OP . . .


"I find that many of the Aliases . . . "

I DID have LaunchServices Database selected. De-selected it and will run Onyx next time without it.

Thanks.

Re: ONYX and Aliases
joemikeb #48541 04/12/18 03:53 PM
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Yes . . . I am using Sierra and Onyx for Sierra.

The only problem with the troubleshooting approach suggested is that not every Alias is affected (although many are). It would be a tedious and time-consuming process to check every alias after checking each Automation change one at a time.

I was hoping someone else had experienced this problem and had a quicker solution.

Thanks, anyway.

Last edited by MG2009; 04/12/18 04:03 PM.
Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48542 04/12/18 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
As in OP . . .

"I find that many of the Aliases . . . "

I questioned that because "many" is pretty darn strange in a situation in which I'd expect "all".

Now, I'm even more curious about what happened.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48544 04/12/18 06:33 PM
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Are these all "standard" MacOS aliases created through the context menu in Finder or are some of them being created through a Terminal command or maybe through a third party app? In other words are these aliases, symbolic links or hard links?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: ONYX and Aliases
joemikeb #48545 04/12/18 06:50 PM
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I RIGHT CLICK on the original folder/file, and choose "make alias" from the contextual menu.

After making the alias, I sometimes drag/move it to another location. Could that pose a problem? (I wouldn't think so since there would be no point in making an alias if it had to stay with the original file/folder.) smile

Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48547 04/12/18 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
I RIGHT CLICK on the original folder/file, and choose "make alias" from the contextual menu.

After making the alias, I sometimes drag/move it to another location. Could that pose a problem? (I wouldn't think so since there would be no point in making an alias if it had to stay with the original file/folder.) smile

That is exactly the way Apple Aliases are supposed to work and why Apple created them in preference to Unix Symbolic links or hard links.

If some OnyX function were the culprit, logic says it should break ALL aliases, not just some or at least there should be something common among the new that are being broken.
  • Are the broken aliases consistent ie. are the same links broken every time you run OnyX?
  • Look carefully at which links get broken and see if there is any common element between them, such as ...
    • The linked files are all in the same folder and the unbroken links are to files in other folders.
    • the broken aliases are in the same folder and the unbroken aliases are in different folders.
    • the broken aliases all point to the same kind of file ie have the same file extension?
    • any other common element you can think of..
  • If the broken aliases are truly random that would seem to indicate something deeper within either the volume structure of your drive or perhaps an interaction with something else that is running on your system. In that case:
    • Boot from the Recovery drive and run Disk Utility > Files > First Aid to check for Volume Structure errors and
    • Do a Safe Boot and run OnyX to see if the broken aliases still occur.
In any case either need to be prepared to spend some time running this one down or make up your mind to live with it.

A TROUBLESHOOTING ALTERNATIVE: There are other utilities that pretty well duplicate the functions in OnyX's Automation. Two of the best known are Cocktail and TinkerTool System 5. Unfortunately neither of them is free, but TinkerTool System does offer an Evaluation Mode which is fully functional for five runs on the same system. Even though OnyX, Cocktail, and TinkerTool System all use the same underlying Unix commands you might download TinkerTool System and see if it breaks any of your aliases. If it doesn't that would definitely point the finger at OnyX as the culprit. If does that would implicate other and perhaps more serious problems.

Last edited by joemikeb; 04/12/18 09:55 PM. Reason: Troubleshooting alternative

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: ONYX and Aliases
joemikeb #48549 04/12/18 09:53 PM
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Thanks for all your effort in looking into this matter.

However, I have tons of Aliases. Going through and checking each one is not very practical.

So . . . I can "just live with it" for the time being since there is obviously no easy solution. Wishful thinking on my part.

What I can do, is when I click on an Alias and get the "fix alias" message, I will then track down the original file/folder and make a new alias since this does NOT seem to be a matter of all aliases being affected when I run Onyx (and have no idea why only some are "corrupted").


Many thanks,
MG2009
Re: ONYX and Aliases
MG2009 #48550 04/12/18 11:17 PM
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It would probably be worth your while to keep track of the aliases you have to fix to see if there's a connection.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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