Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

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FMiguelez
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Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by FMiguelez »

Hello.

I am annoyed that I haven't been able to use X-Finder in my office computer because System Integrity Protection prevents it from working.

Is it safe to disable it? I don't want to open backdoors that I don't know of...

If it's not a big deal, I would gladly give up whatever "security" this gives for the convenience of being able to use X-Finder.
So IS it a big deal?

Apple doesn't make it clear if it's an all-or-nothing thing. Could I just authorize the app and leave the System Integrity on?

Thanks!
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by mikehalloran »

SIP provides security at the root level. If something gets in that can wreak havoc because it was off, that's bad. So far, there's not much going around that is causing trouble — yet.

Another issue is that system conflicts can occur. Apple told developers that, beginning with Lion, they were going to sandbox the Root so stop writing to it and many ignored this directive, especially the cheap and freeware guys. With El Cap, they made good on that—incompatible .kxt files and other problems still installed at that level cannot be accessed by applications with SIP engaged.

In a few cases (Adobe comes to mind), the installers won't work with SIP enabled but the applications do. I still prefer Photoshop Elements 6 for certain document tasks even though I have 15.

I don't know X-Finder and have no idea what it does. A Google search reveals many apps with similar names — no idea if they may do what you need.

There's even a version of Soundflower that works in Sierra nowadays. I had to disable SIP to dig the old build out of the root but it works. Actually, I had to disable SIP to clean a few old apps from my system. I keep it enabled now.
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by FMiguelez »

mikehalloran wrote: I don't know X-Finder and have no idea what it does. A Google search reveals many apps with similar names — no idea if they may do what you need.
Thank you for that info, Mike.

X-Finder is a little app that gives the Finder additional functionality, i.e, to automatically widen the columns to see full names, to keep the old tags where you see the name of the file coloured (instead of a sad little dot next to it as it happens now, etc.).
mikehalloran wrote:I had to disable SIP to dig the old build out of the root but it works. Actually, I had to disable SIP to clean a few old apps from my system. I keep it enabled now.
So is SIP something you can tell yourself to "authorise" certain apps?

Suppose I turn off SIP to give access to X-Finder. Will it stop working the moment I turn on SIP again?

IOW, is it like a firewall that you can manually give access to certain things, or is it all-or-nothing?
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by HCMarkus »

Not sure about XFinder, but some apps require turning SIP off when installing, then work fine when SIP is re-enabled post-install. SwitchResX is one such app and the latest I had to deal with that required such steps. It's the reason I am enjoying 60Hz on my 4k (HDMI TV) main studio monitor.
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by mikehalloran »

IOW, is it like a firewall that you can manually give access to certain things, or is it all-or-nothing?
All or nothing.
Suppose I turn off SIP to give access to X-Finder. Will it stop working the moment I turn on SIP again?
Probably. Many such apps will work if you know where to put the .kxt files. To do that, you have to disable SIP, move the files from the Root, then reenable it again.
So is SIP something you can tell yourself to "authorise" certain apps?
No. It prevents apps (and you) from accessing the Root.
Not sure about XFinder, but some apps require turning SIP off when installing, then work fine when SIP is re-enabled post-install. SwitchResX is one such app and the latest I had to deal with that required such steps. It's the reason I am enjoying 60Hz on my 4k (HDMI TV) main studio monitor.
As I mentioned earlier, some Adobe apps will work if you do that. It's certainly worth a try.
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by mikehalloran »

Here's that old thread about SIP and Soundflower. If you know the names of the root files for X-Finder, it might help you figure it out.

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=61722&p=525313&hil ... er#p525313
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Can't you turn it off to install and then turn it back on?
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Re: Is it OK to disable OSX's System Integrity Protection??

Post by ghobish »

FMiguelez wrote:
mikehalloran wrote: I don't know X-Finder and have no idea what it does. A Google search reveals many apps with similar names — no idea if they may do what you need.
Thank you for that info, Mike.

X-Finder is a little app that gives the Finder additional functionality, i.e, to automatically widen the columns to see full names, to keep the old tags where you see the name of the file coloured (instead of a sad little dot next to it as it happens now, etc.).
mikehalloran wrote:I had to disable SIP to dig the old build out of the root but it works. Actually, I had to disable SIP to clean a few old apps from my system. I keep it enabled now.
So is SIP something you can tell yourself to "authorise" certain apps?

Suppose I turn off SIP to give access to X-Finder. Will it stop working the moment I turn on SIP again?

IOW, is it like a firewall that you can manually give access to certain things, or is it all-or-nothing?
Sadly x-finder will not operate with SIP enabled. I miss it.


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