Documentation 0512-1359/2 TinkerTool System 5 Reference Manual ii Version 5.99 S3, December 17, 2019. US-English edition. MBS Documentation 0512-1359/2 © Copyright 2003 – 2019 by Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme Ringstr. 21 56630 Kretz Germany All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be redistributed, translated in other languages, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. This publication may contain examples of data used in daily business operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include the names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business enterprise is entirely coincidental. This publication could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. 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Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 What is TinkerTool System 5? . 1 1.1.1 About the different functional areas of TinkerTool System 5 . 2 1.1.2 System Requirements . 3 1.2 The Security Policy of TinkerTool System . 3 1.2.1 Confirming a privileged operation . 4 1.2.2 Technical Details for Advanced Users . 6 1.2.3 Removing outdated generations of the security component . 6 1.3 Basic Operations . 7 1.3.1 The control window of TinkerTool System . 7 1.3.2 Searching for features by keywords . 9 1.3.3 Using the Touch Bar . 9 1.3.4 Context Help . 10 1.3.5 The Dock Menu . 10 1.3.6 Fields for file system objects . 10 1.3.7 Understanding when Changes Take Effect . 11 1.3.8 General Preferences . 11 1.3.9 Reverting All Permanent Changes to System Settings . 15 1.3.10 Searching for Software Updates . 15 1.4 System Integrity Protection . 16 1.4.1 Technical Background . 16 1.4.2 Disabling Protection . 17 1.5 Integrating TinkerTool into TinkerTool System 5 . 17 1.5.1 Enabling Integration . 17 1.5.2 Disabling integration . 18 2 System Maintenance 19 2.1 The Pane Maintenance . 19 2.1.1 System Optimization . 19 2.1.2 Clear Directory Cache . 20 2.1.3 Locate Database . 22 2.1.4 Shared User Folder . 23 2.2 The Pane Caches . 24 2.2.1 Introduction to caching . 24 iii iv CONTENTS 2.2.2 Unprotected and Protected Caches . 25 2.2.3 Using the Cache Maintenance Functions . 25 2.2.4 Font Caches . 29 2.2.5 Icon Caches . 30 2.2.6 Driver Cache . 30 2.2.7 XPC Cache . 33 2.3 The Pane Time Machine . 34 2.3.1 Time Machine Basics . 34 2.3.2 General Notes when Working with the Time Machine Pane . 34 2.3.3 Maintenance After Replacing a Data Source of Time Machine . 35 2.3.4 Backup Verification and Statistics . 38 2.3.5 Working with Local Snapshots (macOS High Sierra or later only) . 41 2.3.6 Retrieving Time Machine Logs . 43 2.4 The Pane Issues . 45 2.4.1 Resolving Issues with the macOS Software Update Feature . 45 2.4.2 Resolving Licensing Issues with the Mac App Store . 47 2.4.3 Resetting the App Store Commerce Subsystem for your User Account 48 2.4.4 Erasing the Partitioning Info of Disks to Resolve Issues with Disk Utility . 50 2.4.5 Adjust Font Settings to Repair the Display of Special Characters in Safari (macOS High Sierra only) . 52 2.5 The Pane Diagnostics . 54 2.5.1 Evaluate RAM Size . 54 2.5.2 Test Finder Copy . 58 2.5.3 Inspecting Optical Disks . 61 2.5.4 SSDs . 63 2.5.5 Performing a Quick Test on Cooling Fans . 65 2.5.6 Check Time Machine . 67 2.6 The Pane Emergency Tool . 70 2.6.1 Introduction to the standalone utility . 70 2.6.2 Installing the Standalone Version . 71 2.6.3 Removing the Standalone Version . 71 2.6.4 Using the Standalone Version . 71 2.7 The Pane Install Media . 72 2.7.1 Operating System Installation . 72 2.7.2 Requirements . 72 2.7.3 Creating Install Media . 73 2.8 The Pane Info . 75 2.8.1 System Information . 75 2.8.2 Malware Protection . 78 2.8.3 App Blacklist . 80 2.8.4 Driver Blacklist . 82 2.8.5 Classic Logs and Reports . 84 2.8.6 Modern Logging and Tracing . 88 CONTENTS v 3 File Operations 93 3.1 The Pane Files . 93 3.1.1 Link . 93 3.1.2 Protection . 95 3.1.3 Attributes . 96 3.1.4 Quarantine . 98 3.1.5 Contents . 99 3.1.6 Force Delete . 101 3.1.7 Trash . 102 3.1.8 Nesting . 103 3.1.9 Extended Attributes . 106 3.2 The Pane Clean Up . 108 3.2.1 General Policy when Deleting Files . 108 3.2.2 Hidden Support Files . 108 3.2.3 Log Archives . 111 3.2.4 Crash Reports . 111 3.2.5 Orphaned Files . 114 3.2.6 Aliases . 116 3.2.7 Removable Disks . 118 3.2.8 Core Dumps . 120 3.3 The Pane Languages . 120 3.3.1 Remove language support . 120 3.4 The Pane Applications . 125 3.4.1 Uninstallation Assistant . 125 3.4.2 Let TinkerTool System search for components . 125 3.4.3 Security Check . 130 3.5 The Pane ACL Permissions . 134 3.5.1 Introduction to Permissions . 134 3.5.2 POSIX Permissions . 134 3.5.3 Additional Permission Markers . 136 3.5.4 Access Control Lists . 136 3.5.5 Show or Set Permissions . 140 3.5.6 Effective Permissions . 145 3.5.7 Special Permissions . 148 3.6 The Pane Operational Safety . ..