Replace the Finder with Path Finder (revisited)
Dec 01, '04 09:52:00AM
Contributed by: bfad
There was an earlier hint for replacing Apple's Finder with Path Finder. However, the information was not entirely correct (Step 4 said replace APPLEPFdR with APPLMACS, but it should be replaced with FNDRMACS), and the hint did not go far enough to explain how to replace the Finder icon on the Dock.
Disclaimer: This hint involves some major tinkering inside OS X and is not advised for the faint of heart. I don't think there is anything here that an archive and install wouldn't fix, but try at your own risk.
Read the rest of the hint for the walkthrough...
[robg adds: I haven't tested this one, and if you're going to do so, I strongly recommend a good, current backup that's been verified prior to starting!]
- Tell Path Finder to start at login instead of Apple's Finder
Open Terminal and type the following command:
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow Finder /Full/Path/To/Path\ Finder.app
Hint: To get the full path to Path Finder, after typing the command through "Finder " (with the space), navigate to Path Finder in the Finder and drag the icon into the Terminal window. This should automatically fill in the complete path for you. You do not need to set Path Finder's launch and login preference if you complete this step. In fact, if you run that command, I'd recommend not setting that preference. Also, don't set the preference that quits Finder at login, because Path Finder is now the Finder.
- Setup Path Finder to intercept Finder calls
The following steps will do a number of things:
- If you command click the menu bar on a Cocoa application like TextEdit and choose a folder in the path, it will open in Path Finder and not Apple's Finder
- If you click on a folder in the Dock, it will display its contents using Path Finder. Your mileage on this may vary if you don't complete the rest of the steps.
- In the Force Quit menu, when you select Path Finder, the option will say "Relaunch" instead of "Force Quit," and if Apple's Finder is running, the option will be to "Force Quit" instead of "Relaunch"
- When you are in the Terminal and use the command
open /Path/Of/Folder it will open using
Path Finder
Here's how to do it:
- Navigate to Path Finder
- Control-Click (Right-Click) on Path Finder and select "Show Package Contents." A new window will open with a folder named Contents, double click on it
- Double click on the document named "PkgInfo"
- Inside, replace the "APPLPFdR" with "FNDRMACS"
- Save and close the document.
If you logout and log back in at this point, you will notice all that has been described, as well as the Finder icon in the Dock with a black triangle underneath it. To notice this, you may have to open Terminal and type the command sudo killall Dock, since the Dock launches before the Finder. If you click and hold on that icon, you will see the Path Finder's Dock menu. If you just click on the icon, it will actually launch the Finder. Step three will explain how to change the icon picture to that of Path Finder's, and step four will explain how to keep Apple's Finder from launching when you click on the first Dock icon.
- Replace the Finder icon at the start of the Dock with Path Finder's icon
- Navigate to Path Finder, control-click (right-click) on the icon and choose "Show Package Contents"
- Double click on the Contents folder and then on the Resources folder
- In that folder should be a document named PathFinder.icns. Find it and copy it to a temporary location (like the Desktop) by holding down the Option key while dragging and dropping it in the desired location.
- Double click on the new file and it should open in Preview. If Preview does not open up a drawer to reveal the number of pages, click on the drawer option in the top left of the window. Once the drawer is opened, be sure Page 1 is selected.
- Next, go to the File menu and choose Export...
- Change the format to PNG, name the file "finder" and save it back in the same temporary location (like the Desktop)
- Preview will give you a message about only exporting the selected page. Hit okay since that is the picture we want to export.
- Quit Preview, find the new file you created, select it and then choose File->Get Info
- Under Name and Extention (or Other, if in Path Finder) make sure the box labled "Hide extension" is unchecked.
- Under Ownership and Permisions (or Permisions if you are using Path Finder), change the Owner to system (root if using Path Finder) and the Group to wheel. The Owner should be able to read and write, the Group should be able to read and Everyone should be able to read. (The Owner, Group, and Everyone should also be able to Execute if you are using Path Finder) NOTE: This may require your administrator username and password.
- Using Apple's Finder, navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices
- Control-click (right-click) on the Dock icon and select "Show Package Contents"
- Double click on Contents, double click on Resources
- Inside Resources should be a file named finder.png, drag it to the trash and give your admin username and password when promted.
- Replace the file you just deleted with the finder.png file you created and had stored in a temporary location (like the desktop). You'll be warned
you don't have permissions. Click on "Authenticate" and give your admin username and password when prompted.
- Still using Apple's Finder, navigate to /Library/Caches
- You should see files labled com.apple.dock.iconcache.xxx, where xxx is actually some number
- Select all such files and drag them to the trash
If you log out and log back in at this point, the first icon should now look like the Path Finder icon and not like Apple's Finder icon. Unfortunately, if you
click on that icon, or on a folder in the Dock, Apple's Finder will still launch. To change that, continue to step four. You should also note that the icon in the Application Switcher has changed to Path Finder's icon and not Apple's Finder. (If this is not the case, you may need to restart)
- Stop the Finder from launching unexpectedly.
These steps should keep the Finder from launching when you click on the first icon in the dock, and when you click on folders in the Dock. Instead, Path Finder should behave exactly like Apple's Finder, opening a new window or showing the contents of the selected folder, respectively.
- Navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices
- Move (don't copy) Apple's Finder into a safe location. You may have to change the owner of CoreServices to yourself in order to do so. If this is the case, don't forget to change the owner back.
- Create an alias of Path Finder named "Finder" -- the name with the extension should be Finder.app. Make sure the "Hide extension" box is checked for this alias)
- Move your new alias into /System/Library/CoreServices
- Check the Permissions to ensure they are the following:
- Owner: system (or root) -- read and write (and execute)
- Group: wheel -- read (and execute)
- Everyone -- read (and execute)
- Restart your computer
There you have it, that pretty much gets rid of the Finder. If you are doing the various steps in stages and are logging in and out in between, you might need
to open a terminal and type the command sudo killall Dock to see some of the Dock changes. Some functionality requires a restart, such as the last step. You may want to be able to run Apple's Finder, but have it run invisibly (so that it's not on the Dock). If you follow this hint, that should do the trick. Once again, this hint involves mucking around
in the core of Mac OS X, proceed at your own risk.
Comments (13)
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20041129160952245