CNET Editors' review
Like a fire extinguisher by your stove or a lead pipe by your front door, AppleJack can be extremely useful to have in the right situation. This free command-line utility can help you do a small suite of essential Mac maintenance tasks, without needing an OS X install disk or secondary startup disk.
Don't be intimidated by hearing the words "command-line": if you already have AppleJack installed on your machine when you start up in Single User Mode (the only time you'll ever want to use AppleJack, by holding down command-s when you restart), you'll see a prompt asking you if you want to use AppleJack "for troubleshooting assistance." Then you'll be given a user-friendly list of basic maintenance options, including repair disks, repair permissions, cleanup cache files, validate preferences files, and remove swap files. These are all things that you can already do with the command line, or that you can do with Disk Utility if you're starting up from a secondary disk--but if you're traveling or otherwise don't have your install disks with you, AppleJack can be a lifesaver for getting an ailing machine up and running again. AppleJack supports Snow Leopard, and recent updates have improved the start-up process.
Like that lead pipe or fire extinguisher, though, AppleJack is not necessarily recommended for recreational use. A small number of users on some systems have experienced issues running this app, so there's no need to run AppleJack unless you are already having problems--and as always, make sure you have a backup of your hard drive.
Publisher's Description
From The Apotek:
AppleJack is a tool to make it easy to troubleshoot your Mac when no other startup disk is available to you. The script gives you an interactive menu-driven environment for basic disk check/repair, permissions repair, .plist validation, cache cleanup, and swap file removal. You can do basic system maintenance even if your GUI won't start up at all, simply by booting into single user mode, and typing 'applejack'.
Feedback: In order to make it easier for me to keep track of development of this application, please direct requests for enhancements and all bug reports to the sourceforge.net project page.
You can post features you'd like to see added at: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=79562&atid=557037
Bug Reports should be sent to: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=79562&atid=557034
What's new in this version:
- Snow Leopard compatibility [feature 2845796] (Thanks again to Steve Anthony)
- Improved limits on output from syslog to STDOUT
- Simplified startup of services on Leopard and Snow Leopard
- Fixed bug in creation of user account lists in Snow Leopard where system accounts would show up
- S.M.A.R.T. status verification is now being done in the expert mode. I still want to implement this using smartmontools, but for now diskutil will do.
- Bless... See all new features
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All versions:
4.8 starsout of 13 votes
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Current version:
4.8 starsout of 12 votes
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My rating:
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"SAVED MY REAR A FEW TIMES!"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
EASY to use, circumvents/loads in single-user mode to avoid problems with too many extensions that might be the cause of boot problems...
Cons
Slow to update, BUT usually still works through Apple's OS updates.
Summary
Have booting problems? System freezing at boot? Cache files need clearing? Permissions needs Repair?
Applejack!
Install it via the Finder, boot into single user mode and let it perform its magic! I just tried installing a different ATI5000.kext driver in my system because I saw it was a newer version- this required Admin authentication and I might have installed files that were meant for a Hackintosh! My MacPro would NOT finish booting. I booted in safe mode, removed/replaced the kext and rebooted, no avail!!
Booted in Single-User mode, ran "applejack AUTO" and all's well again! I've had similar stories with my MDD G4 and AppleJack!
Where do I donate!? -
"Absolute Perfection!"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Quick, easy, thorough, automated or not, operates in the right place to get things taken care of without do any damage of its own will fixing other issues. Unlike other "repair" applications.
Cons
My Apple AGP Video card will not always cooperate and leaves without the ability to see the screen to use Applejack. BUT that has nothign to do with Applejack.
Summary
I have found that I can have this made available for those that I help with their issues and it is so simple and there is no real opportunity for anything to go wrong if used right. So it not only saves me time and trouble, it makes it easier to help others remotely.
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"The indispensable utility for Macs"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Can get you back up and running if you can't boot into OSX. Makes single user mode almost user-friendly.
Cons
Requires single-user mode. I don't consider this a con, actually, because sometimes that's all you can boot into.
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"Excellent software and well worth a "donation"."
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Does what it needs to do very well with a minimum of fuss, even those of us terrified by suddenly appearing "lines of code" can learn its use, since the key commands are to type "applejack", then type "a" or numbers for individual tests.
Cons
All things considered, none really.
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"GREAT! DOES THE JOB EASILY."
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Does the job. Easy to use. Best download ever!
Cons
None come to mind.
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"My mac isn't slow anymore!"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
I was ready to throw my mac out the window and buy a new one. This is my first mac and I was very surprised that it started slowing down. I thought macs were perfect! But applejack was fast and easy and seems to be working! I'm HAPPY!!
Cons
I don't have any complaints yet.
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"Fixed a disaster from a Microsoft Office update"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Very simple to use, and it actually got my PowerBook G4 up and running again.
Cons
A lot of error messages were interspersed with the Applejack sentences, which was confusing. No explanation of these errors was given by AJ, so I don't know if that is a part of fixing things or something AJ didn't expect or couldn't respond to.
Summary
Despite the weird error message issue, it still worked!
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"Best Damn Thing Since Apple-Flavored Cherios!"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Saves my posterior on a regular basis! Speeds up my machines, cleans-up all kinds of cache bloat, and it's free! Can't beat it!
Cons
None. Two suggestion, though: 1. An option to clean out specified users' caches in the auto modes would prevent having to run it manually a 2nd time and 2. an option to save a log would be useful to catch some info that scrolls by too fast.
Summary
Used this for many years now. It differs from the other utilities in that 1. it works before the system loads so it has better and faster access to everything, 2. has the option to empty either some or all the caches and 3. just works without any fancy user interfaces to slow it down. Highly recommend!
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"works as promised; streamlines maintenance/repairs"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
easy to install, easy to use, seems to do its job
Cons
what's not to like... I even prefer that it's a command line app/script. Brings me back to the days of entering machine code for fixes to PC-DOS 1.1 and its apps.. which is a good thing
Summary
extremely useful
Updated on Sep 2, 2010 -
"Apple is a fool for not having applejack part of its OS"
Version: AppleJack 1.6
Pros
Much easier to use than other maintenance programs I have.
Cons
Wish it could auto boot when done and everything is ok.
Summary
What I like is the fact that applejack works on the ROOT level. I'm not too sure if other maintenance applications can truly do the trick when they are part of the operation. (How does a program check itself?)
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