Why is my home dir a package?

[perasso]

I hope this is an interesting question.

My eMac runs 10.3.9. I recently had it in the shop and used an old iMac running 9.1 as a backup computer. I connected a LaCie external drive to the iMac on which I had backed up all my latest files. I was surprised when I was unable to navigate into my backed up home directory. I could get to files using a browser, but Finder said that my home directory was a "package" and refused to descend down into it.

Here are some details, and I'm wondering if anyone knows what is going on.

1) I back up my entire disk once a week using Sync running as root. When I navigate into the backed up files, the copy of my home directory (/Volumes/LaCie/.../Users/david) is seen as a package, but no one else's home directory is seen as a package. 9.1 was where I first noticed this. I'm sure I didn't have this problem before I connected up a 9.1 computer. Now when I run 10.3, Finder thinks my backed up home directories are packages and refuses to navigate into them. However I can navigate into any of the other backed up home directories.

2) My account is the administrator account.

3) Unix permissions are:
drwxrwxrwt 16 root wheel 544 5 Jul 21:50 Shared
drwxr-xr-x 67 david david 2278 25 Nov 09:49 david
drwxr-xr-x 12 guest1 guest1 408 13 Aug 20:38 guest1
drwxr-xr-x 21 kiya kiya 714 30 Oct 2005 kiya
drwxr-xr-x 15 patty patty 510 4 Jul 12:50 patty

4) I have no problem accessing the files from a shell. I can even use the shell to "fix" the problem by creating a directory and moving the contents of /Volumnes/LaCie/.../Users/David to the new directory then renaming. But I have no idea if doing that screws up something important (OS X isn't exactly UNIX, is it?)

5) On 10.3 Finder tells me it is a RealPlayer package. 9.1 is silent about what type of package it is.

6) When I look at /Users/david (as opposed to /Volumes/LaCie/.../Users/david) in finder, I see the cute little Home directory icon. I can navigate down into /Users/david using finder without any problem.

7) It is possible that using 9.1 screwed something up. When I make a new backup, and then go look at the directory with Finder, it seems OK.

But even assuming I somehow screwed things up by using 9.1, just what the heck did I screw up and how should I fix it? Somehow the operating system thinks the copy of my home directory is a RealPlayer package, and I would like to know how to change it without screwing something else up.

And aside from wanting to know what to do, I would like to understand what is going on inside the OS.

Any info would be appreciated.

thanks
David Perasso

 

[perasso]

For what it is worth, I found this in a technical note regarding OS 9. OS X has a mechanism (extended from OS 9)

The Package Flag

The folder containing the package has bit 13 (for files, the hasBundle bit) set in its Finder flags. For files, this bit is known as the "bundle bit" indicating that the file contains a 'BNDL' resource that is used by the Finder to determine how the file's icon is displayed. For more information about how the Finder 'BNDL' resources see the Finder Interface chapter of Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials .

In Mac OS 9, any folder having this bit set is recognized as a package. If this bit is set, and the folder contains exactly one alias at its topmost level, then the Finder will treat the folder as a package.

In some circumstances, due to a software problem or a crash, a folder may wind up having the package bit set when in fact it is not a package. In this case, the Finder will treat such a folder as a "damaged package" and its icon will appear as a blank document with the kind string set to "package." To correct this problem, there is a utility called "Package First Aid" provided on the Mac OS 9 install CD.

I've corrected the problem for now, and if it occurs again (my eMac is due back in the shop when the logic board comes in) I will try Package First Aid and see if that's the problem.