permissions error with empty SystemVersions.plist

J

jayands

Registered
Hi all. I'm running 10.6.2, and recently installed MacFUSE, which I think is behind several kernel panics that have recently happened (64 vs 32bit requirements and all). I was replacing my SystemVersion.plist (more on that in a sec), when one of the major panics happened: the draw-down, the shut off, the four languages, the works. Now, when I start up, it just hangs, so then I start up in Single-user mode and after going to /System/Library/CoreServices/ , this is what I'm faced with:
Code: 
ls -lO SystemVersion.plist*

-r-------- root wheel -   0 SystemVersion.plist
-r--r--r-- root wheel - 479 SystemVersion.plist.bak
-rw-rw-rw- root wheel - 480 SystemVersion.plist.rep
Now, the reason why I'd need to modify that file at all is kind of simple: I'm a college student. Allow me to elaborate. My school (College of Southern Nevada) uses Cisco Clean Access Agent v4.1.3.1. Its intention is to make sure the computer connecting to the network is virus-free, etc; in other words, it's only a login screen for the Mac. The only problem is v4.1.3.1 does not support Snow Leopard, and will tell you so. I scoured the Interweb, but could not find an update released by Cisco short of actually having them set me up a server/network type setup, even for Windoze. So someone came up with this hacky method for making it work: replace the `SystemVersion.plist' with a more CCAAgent-friendly one (one that said the system was version 10.5.8: the one I named `SystemVersion.plist.rep'). After logging in, you'd then revert the file to 10.6 (or whichever system version you may have: `SystemVersion.plist.bak'), thereby making sure the system's all kosher when it starts up.

Well, I was getting ready to log in to CCAAgent when the panic happened; and like I said, the above output is what I get.
I've tried chmod'ing it to 644: SystemVersion.plist is a read-only file
Tried rm -f SystemVersion.plist: SystemVersion.plist is a read-only file
Tried cp -fP SystemVersion.plist: SystemVersion.plist is a read-only file
I read man pages; I'm plumb stuck. I'm wondering if I should just do a system wipe/restore when I get home.

Thanks for any help,
jayands
 
Last edited:
Prefix the commands with "sudo" and enter your root/admin password when prompted by the Terminal... such as:
Code: 
[b]sudo[/b] chmod 644 SystemVersion.plist
[b]sudo[/b] rm -f SystemVersion.plist
etc., etc., etc.
...or what-have-you.

If you're doing this in single-user mode, you shouldn't have to put "sudo" in front of the command -- but then again, it's worth a try.
 
Thanks. I was actually getting ready to try this, but then I noticed something when I started up this time:
Code: 
Singleuser boot -- fsck not done
Root device is mounted read-only

If you want to make modifications to files:
        /sbin/fsck -fy
        /sbin/mount -uw /

If you wish to boot to the system:
        exit

:/ root#
so after running the first two (I've used Linux before so I knew what all that meant), you were right: I didn't need sudo. Thank you, now let me go
Code: 
cat SystemVerson.plist.bak>SystemVerson.plist
because I already
:/ root# cd /System/Library/CoreServices/
:CoreServices root# rm -f SystemVerson.plist
:CoreServices root#
 
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