Uh oh! I'm in trouble.
 

Somehow things got REALLY screwed up with my drive configuration/backup. My setup is 74GB Raptor as boot drive/sandbox, 400GB internal HD with system and user files, 400GB external FW for backup.

Yesterday I tried to run a Smart Update of the HD from the sandbox. I had installed some new system updates and things seemed to be running smoothly, so I wanted to update the HD. When I opened the application, a message came up saying "this is the first time you've opened this app etc." which is totally wrong. In retrospect, I probably should have stopped there... but I didn't. I ran the update, it seemed to finish. But at the end the application froze, and I had to force quit. Then I clicked the icon to open again and a grey question mark appeared on the icon. Bad. Again, I probably should have stopped here. But I downloaded a new copy of SuperDuper and then used it to back up my HD to my external FW.

The result is that somehow my internal HD and external FW are no longer bootable drives. If I click on the HDs, all that appears are two folders: Library (which only has Caches and Logs folders in it) and Users (which thankfully does have all of my user files). But neither drive has a system or applications and of course neither are bootable.

It seems like I should probably start from scratch with a new OS install (b/c the string of events that got me here indicate some system problem), but I'm not sure how to go about it with configuration of drives I've got. Would I do a clean install of OS X on the internal HD (not sandbox), run the updates, and then use migration assistant to bring in my user files from the external HD? But then what about applications? Neither the internal HD nor the external HD have them. If I try to use migration assistant to bring the application files from the sandbox to the HD, it will try to look for the library files associated with those apps - and they won't be on the sandbox.

I'm very confused and freaked out here, so I'd really appreciate any help you could offer!

Thanks,
Chris

I should add...
 

... that somehow the System and Library folders ended up on my sandbox, along with the Applications.

So the only thing on my HD is my user files and a folder entitled "Library" which only has two folders inside called "Cache" and "Logs".

??

I'm not sure what's happened here, Chris. Do you have your regular backup? How could everything get all messed up at once?

Did you perhaps not use "Smart Update" with "Backup - all files" to update the main drive from the Sandbox?

Dave,

I'm honestly not sure how it happened. Initially, I think it had something to do with whatever system error caused the problem with SuperDuper I mentioned in the first post.

After that, it was compounded by my own negligence. I should have stopped there, suspecting something might be wrong, but instead I proceeded to clone the HD that I didn't know was screwed up to my backup. So now both the HD and backup are messed up.

That still doesn't explain how the Library and System folders got onto my Sandbox. But at this point, I'm not as interested in the why as the HOW do I fix this?!

Since the sandbox has everything but user files, and the backup drive has the user files, my thinking now is to erase the HD, do a clean reinstall of OS X, run updates, freshly reinstall applications from disk and then manually bring in user files, preferences, etc. from the backup drive. Sounds like a real fun time :<, but it seems like the safest way to go.

What do you think?

Library and System should be on your Sandbox, actually. Only the home folders in /Users, a folder in /Library and some applications are shared.

Are you sure everything's on the Sandbox, including the Applications?

Right. My brain lapsed there for a minute.

Everything is on Sandbox except for the user files. The Apps are definitely there - I'm running one of them to write this message and there are NO apps on the HD.

I had created "shared users" as the sandbox, so my applications weren't being shared at all.

This being the case, what do you suggest?

OK. Copy your entire sandbox to a drive that does NOT contain your users. Then, delete the Users folder (which should mostly be empty) from that drive. Finally, do a "Backup - user files" from the drive with the user files on it to the drive that contains the new copy of the Sandbox, using "Copy different".

Hopefully that'll combine the two and you'll be able to test to make sure.

When you copy your Sandbox, make SURE to use "Backup - all files".

Dave,

Thanks again for your help.

Okay, so I copy the sandbox to a fresh drive using "backup-all files". Then I delete the users folder on that drive. Then I use "backup - user files" using "copy different" to copy the user files to that drive.

Question: will it copy the entire user folder as a "new user", or will it simply copy the files into the current user folder?

What this should do is copy the entire /Users folder, including all contents therein, to the drive, leaving everything else alone. That should re-integrate your sandbox and its user files, creating a valid standalone volume.

Dave,

I've run up against a snag. I copied my Sandbox to a backup drive. However, when I go to delete the "Users" folder, I notice that it has the little arrow that indicates it's being shared with the HD. When I put the User folder in the trash, it appears that all of my user files from the HD are being put in the trash as well!

How do I get rid of the "referenced" user folder on the new volume without trashing my original files?

Chris

Your original files shouldn't be trashed, Chris. Did you look at the original drive to see if they're there?

I did check the original drive, and they are still there. I guess what threw me off is that when I looked in the folders in the trash, it appears that all of the files are in there! It must just be that the names of the files are listed, but not the files themselves? I'm just super paranoid about erasing the only remaining copy (now that I'm using my backup drive to clone the sandbox) of my user files!

Understood. Remember that it's a link, so it's likely going to show you the originals. Don't empty the trash if you're worried, though.