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private/var/db/displaypolicyd
#32245 12/21/14 06:28 PM
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MG2009 Offline OP
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Does anyone know where this file is located in YOSEMITE?


Many thanks,
MG2009
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
MG2009 #32246 12/21/14 07:06 PM
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private/var/db/displaypolicyd—it's a folder—is located at, well, private/var/db/displaypolicyd, in both Yosemite and Mavericks, on my machine, anyway.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
dkmarsh #32247 12/21/14 07:26 PM
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Okay.

So where does one find the folder called private/var/db/displaypolicyd (i.e. that is the full path to locate this item)?

P.S. It does not show up using SPOTLIGHT or SEARCH on my machine.


Many thanks,
MG2009
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
MG2009 #32248 12/21/14 08:22 PM
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Use Finder's Go menu -> Go to Folder… command, paste

/private/var/db/displaypolicyd

into the text box, and click Go or hit Return. Note that private must be preceded by a slash (indicating your startup volume) for the command to work.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
MG2009 #32249 12/21/14 08:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
Okay.

So where does one find the folder called private/var/db/displaypolicyd (i.e. that is the full path to locate this item)?

P.S. It does not show up using SPOTLIGHT or SEARCH on my machine.

The fact the folder you are looking for is not found using Spotlight or Search is because it is in a hidden folder. Press ⇧⌘G then in the dropdown window enter /private/db/displaypoilcyd (don't forget to include the leading / character which is Unix shorthand for the drive root) and you will probably see an empty Finder window because that folder is typically empty.

dk types faster than I do. grin

Last edited by joemikeb; 12/21/14 08:34 PM.

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

— Albert Einstein
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
dkmarsh #32250 12/21/14 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted By: dkmarsh

private/var/db/displaypolicyd—it's a folder—is located at, well, private/var/db/displaypolicyd, in both Yosemite and Mavericks, on my machine, anyway.

More precisely, it's at /private/var/db/displaypolicyd (note the leading /, which indicates to start at the top level of the boot volume.)

The folder /private is invisible. There is an invisible alias (symlink, actually) at /var which points to /private/var, so you can also find the folder in question at /var/db/displaypolicyd. It's an empty file on my system (Yosemite).

Spotlight does not index anything in /public, so you won't find it using Spotlight's index.

You can reach the folder most easily from the command line using its full path, including the leading /. You can also get there from Finder using Go→Go to Folder..., again by entering the full path.

Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
ganbustein #32252 12/21/14 08:47 PM
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Quote:
Spotlight does not index anything in /public...

?



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
dkmarsh #32254 12/21/14 09:59 PM
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Thanks, Guys.

Since the YOSEMITE upgrade, every time I ran PERMISSION REPAIRS, I would get only one message: repairing the USER/GROUP numbers in the aforementioned folder.

So . . . I found that (invisible) folder as described in this thread. I highlighted it and opened the GET INFO box. Unlocked it with my admin password. Went in and changed all the permissions.

Re-ran REPAIR PERMISSIONS. As a result of MY changes, the system repaired a whole pile of permissions related, presumably, to the manual changes I had just made. The GET INFO box for the above folder returned to its previous settings - as I had hoped/expected it would.

Then, I re-ran PERMISSIONS REPAIRS three more times and each time I no longer get that USER/GROUP message (which was driving me nuts since it is the only repair message I have been getting for weeks. Usually, there are no repairs reported in the log - at least, none until the move from Mavericks to Yosemite. Nice and clean . . . again. grin )

CONCLUSION: It would appear that manually changing the permissions in the private/var/db/displaypolicyd folder forced the system to repair my changes which seems to have resolved the constant repair USER /GROUP message.


Many thanks,
MG2009
Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
dkmarsh #32258 12/22/14 03:24 PM
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Originally Posted By: dkmarsh

Quote:
Spotlight does not index anything in /public...

?

Sorry. I misspoke. I tried using mdfind to find things I knew were in /public, and kept getting no hits, so I concluded /private wasn't getting indexed. Then I noticed that mdfind wasn't finding anything, anywhere, generally hanging instead. I saw nothing unusual in Activity Monitor or Console. So I restarted, and now mdfind is working normally, including rapidly finding things in /private.

Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
MG2009 #32259 12/22/14 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
Then, I re-ran PERMISSIONS REPAIRS three more times and each time I no longer get that USER/GROUP message (which was driving me nuts

You can get a whole lot less aggravation from Repair Permissions by not running it at all.

Re: private/var/db/displaypolicyd
MG2009 #32266 12/22/14 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: mg2009
Since the YOSEMITE upgrade, every time I ran PERMISSION REPAIRS, I would get only one message: repairing the USER/GROUP numbers in the aforementioned folder.
That type of permission error has been present in almost every OS X upgrade and update. Apple's advice is to ignore them. The only time you need to repair permissions is when something is actually broken.


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

— Albert Einstein

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