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DiskWarrior on eDrive?
#985 08/12/09 07:29 PM
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In this post elsewhere in these forums Joemikeb mentioned that 'no small number of TTP users have DiskWarrior installed in TTP's eDrive'. That may be true despite Micromat's counsel not to add anything to the eDrive, but I'm wondering how many of those users actually manage to run DW from the eDrive.

The reason I wonder is that I recall trying that myself quite some time ago only to get an error message I couldn't work around. I tried this again today and ran into the exact same issue. The error message says:

The com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior.prefs file is corrupt or write-protected. Quit DiskWarrior, throw away the preference file, then, open DiskWarrior again. A new preference file will be created with the default settings.
The preference file is located within the Preferences folder within the Library folder of your startup disk.


The problem is that there is no such file, and consequently one cannot remove it to solve the problem. Write privileges appear OK, and that's it. Or is it?


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1032 08/13/09 06:26 AM
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I can't help you with the eDrive part, because I'm not running TTP, but I've got that file precisely where your error message says it should be...a UNIX executable.

Its creation date doesn't mean anything to me, but it's latest modification date is

Today (8-13) at 1:28:39AM

which coincides with this Console entry:

8/13/09 1:28:39 AM [0x0-0xf00f].com.alsoft.diskwarriorstarter DiskWarriorDaemon: Thu Aug 13 01:28:39 EDT 2009. Running scheduled hardware tests.

Your not having the file probably means that you haven't invoked DW>Hardware>Automatic Diagnostics. (It apparently sets the time the test is to be run next.)

(I dunno what's up; this wouldn't post with either "File Contents:" or "Code:" [forget altogether about the code, itself] included in the text.)

Last edited by artie505; 08/13/09 06:32 AM. Reason: Text display problems

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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1039 08/13/09 10:33 AM
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As with Artie, I'm not running DW from an eDrive (although I do have TTP). The file mentioned in your error message (com.Alosft.DiskWarrior.prefs) can be found in /Library/Preferences. There is another preference file named com.Alsoft.diskwarrior.plist in ~/Library/Preferences. I don't know if this helps but it's worth mentioning.

For the record, I run DW from my clone.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1043 08/13/09 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted By: alternaut
The com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior.prefs file is corrupt or write-protected. Quit DiskWarrior, throw away the preference file, then, open DiskWarrior again. A new preference file will be created with the default settings.
The preference file is located within the Preferences folder within the Library folder of your startup disk.

Caveat: I have no personal experience with either TTP or DW. That said, are you starting up from the eDrive and then getting this error message?

If so, are you looking for the plist in /Library/Preferences on the eDrive?



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
dkmarsh #1057 08/13/09 02:04 PM
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When DiskWarrior is running from a non-locked volume, (not the CD it came on) it will attempt to license itself and prompt for code etc. This code is written into the diskwarrior app package itself, so if you drag the app to another drive, the license (and your name) goes with it.

UUNNfortunately, it insists on writing to this file every time it launches, even after it's licensed. (bug?) This means that once you license it, you can't run it on a read-only media. (can't burn it to a bootable CD for example) I've gotten around this a few times by creating a symbolic link where the reg file is, pointing to BootCD's temp scratch partition and let it write there.

The eDrive should be usable to store any tools you need. Micromat maybe doesn't want you to install a competitor's software on their edrive, but there's no specific reason not to. Don't expect any support from micromat OR the other vendor - it's SOP to not help anyone with compatibility with your competitor's products.

The only catch you may run into is the edrive is trimmed down quite a bit and may be lacking important files the other software expects. Some binaries in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, etc may not be present on the edrive.

IMHO the edrive is approaching obsolescence. A second bootable partition with tools on it is within most users' grasp now, especially now that disk utility can do non-destructive repartitioning. (tho I think you still have to boot off the restore disc, unlike the edrive installer and boot camp) Seeing as boot camp can do live repartitioning, we may see that feature added to SN's disk utility.

Also the majority of the disk problems I run into that aren't outright hardware failure are problems with fsck hanging or other reasons the volume won't mount, and in those cases you may not be able to access the edrive anyway because it's on the same disk, so I question the real value of it in the first place. For the price, you're better off investing in a little 80gb external usb/firewire drive. But then you still may need to buy a disk repair app. (like DW)



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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
artie505 #1081 08/13/09 09:03 PM
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Thanks all of you for your comments. I'll address each relevant point below:

artie505: that .pref file is present on my regular startup drive too, but not on the eDrive.

Jchuzi: I'm aware of the two different files and their locations, but neither one is present on the eDrive, where after all DiskWarrior never even ran beyond throwing that error message and quitting when the error was dismissed.

DKMarsh: yes, I'm booting from the eDrive and looking in /Library/Preferences on that same eDrive (as well as everywhere else, for that matter: no joy).

Virtual1: I was wondering about write privileges myself; only the system is listed as having write privileges for the eDrive and /Library/Preferences. Obviously, I wouldn't ask Micromat to help me with something they specifically recommend not to do. And yes, despite the wording of the error message, there may be critical System components missing to allow DW to run. But wouldn't this apply to anyone trying to do this? Hence my original question: did anyone manage to run DW from the eDrive? While I'm entertaining any and all comments, ideally I'd like to hear from one of those successful users 'of no small number'... smirk

Btw, this scenario plays out identically on an iMac G5 iSight running Mac OS X 10.4.11, and on a 15" early 2008 MBP running 10.5.8, both (including their eDrives) with the latest OS and TTP updates applied.


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1084 08/13/09 10:18 PM
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only the system is listed as having write privileges for the eDrive and /Library/Preferences.

it has nothing to do with those directories, only that it can write to files inside its own application package. DW runs with root privs so unless the volume is mounted read-only or the lock bits are set it should have no problems.


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
Virtual1 #1139 08/15/09 09:22 AM
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> UUNNfortunately, it insists on writing to this file every time it launches, even after it's licensed. (bug?) This means that once you license it, you can't run it on a read-only media. (can't burn it to a bootable CD for example)

Hmmm... I've installed DW, *after having licensed it*, on (Charles Srstka's) BootCDs using drag and drop, and it ran (with the exception of the first two screens not displaying their images because QuickTime was missing); it displayed its license and asked me to "Agree" each time I launched it.


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: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
artie505 #1155 08/15/09 01:07 PM
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dunno, that was the behavior when I tried it. maybe it got changed. I stopped trying to discuss things like this with them last time they told me to get lost.


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1548 08/20/09 07:26 AM
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> artie505: that .pref file is present on my regular startup drive too, but not on the eDrive.

I know nothing about TTP's eDrive, so please excuse this question if it makes no sense, but have you tried dragging that file into your eDrive to see what happens?


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: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
artie505 #1575 08/20/09 01:59 PM
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No, I haven't actually copied the file to the eDrive, although the thought occurred to me. I doubt it would help given the other observations, but I'm willing to give it a try. However, it's got to wait another 10 days or so until 'm back in front of that particular iMac.


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #1653 08/21/09 06:27 AM
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> No, I haven't actually copied the file to the eDrive, although the thought occurred to me. I doubt it would help given the other observations, but I'm willing to give it a try. However, it's got to wait another 10 days or so until 'm back in front of that particular iMac.

We'd be pretty lame troubleshooters if we allowed your thread to languish without knowing the results of your trying that procedure; I'm surprised it's taken this long to come up.

(I note, though, that nobody has reported success in getting DW to run from an eDrive.)


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: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
artie505 #1781 08/22/09 03:05 PM
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I'd be very surprised if it didn't run from an edrive. launching from non-writable volumes are the only place I've gotten grief from DW.

Oh one other requirement... DW requires that its application be launched from the booted drive. I have a service partition on my ext HD and I can't put dw on it because it MUST be launched from the booted drive. (not sure if this is an artificial limitation to do with their copy protection or what)


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
Virtual1 #2819 09/03/09 05:25 PM
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This is an excellent question. I tried installing DW on my eDrive many years ago, but then gave up, because I couldn't make it work in any way. Where is this guy who said installing DW on your eDrive in common usage when you need him?

I am not sure anymore, but probably I installed DW directly from the install disk. So perhaps dragging the copy already registered on my main hard disk would give a different result. I may try doing that. But do you mean that DW will only allow you to install it into a disk which is at that very moment the boot disk? This means you have to start eDrive and then somehow try to find DW on the main disk. I don't think TT would allow you to do that.

Last edited by Murry; 09/03/09 05:27 PM.
Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
Murry #2821 09/03/09 05:36 PM
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Quote:
I don't think TT would allow you to do that

It will. All you have to do is Force Quit TechTool and there you are in Finder.


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

— Albert Einstein
Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
artie505 #4817 10/09/09 03:22 AM
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Success! laugh I finally got around to copying the com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior.prefs file from my iMac HD Library to the one on the eDrive (had a job crashing while concluding a 33 day run, which coincidentally allowed me to reboot) and wouldn't you know: DiskWarrior is now purring along fine from that eDrive. tongue Thanks for the suggestion!


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Re: DiskWarrior on eDrive?
alternaut #4822 10/09/09 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted By: alternaut
Success! laugh I finally got around to copying the com.Alsoft.DiskWarrior.prefs file from my iMac HD Library to the one on the eDrive [...] and wouldn't you know: DiskWarrior is now purring along fine from that eDrive. tongue Thanks for the suggestion!

Neato! smile

Thanks for updating us...nice to hear both that you're up and running and that there's an easy workaround for others with the same problem; I'm happy to have been helpful.


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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