MacOS – Files Greyed out in Finder – Potential extended attributes issue

I have only the craziest of guesses, but since we're all striking out so far, here goes.

Is there any chance you've turned on the Asepsis mode which installs a kernel extension? You may have not disabled that in your testing (a safe boot should confirm / rule this out as well). It seems possible that it's intentionally showing you which folders it has replaced the normal .DS_store file with entries in /usr/local/.dscache

I would also use mdls to inspect the metadata for these folders (since apps are really folders these days) in case some clue jumps out at you.

OK, new approach here. Caution: I don't have a system upgraded to Lion (my computer came with Lion installed) so I can't test this. Untested code; back up before trying this code!

My previous answer was based on the sort order used by the Downloads stack in the Dock. The Date Added field in the Finder appears to be based on Spotlight information, which is difficult to hack. It also isn't accessible via AppleScript. But, there does seem to be a workaround.

1. Create a new Workflow in Automator.

2. Set the workflow to accept files or folders from the Finder by adding the “Ask for Finder items” action.

3. Have the workflow run an AppleScript by adding the “Run AppleScript” action.

Use this AppleScript:

on run {input, parameters}
    do shell script "sudo /usr/sbin/systemsetup -setusingnetworktime Off" with administrator privileges
    tell application "Finder"
        repeat with x in input
            set myfile to POSIX path of x
            set nm to name of x
            set d to modification date of x
            set yr to (character 3 of (year of d as string)) & (character 4 of (year of d as string))
            set mth to (month of d as number) as string
            if length of mth is 1 then set mth to "0" & mth
            set dy to day of d as string
            if length of dy is 1 then set dy to "0" & dy
            set h to hours of d as string
            if length of h is 1 then set h to "0" & h
            set m to minutes of d as string
            if length of m is 1 then set m to "0" & m
            set s to seconds of d as string
            if length of s is 1 then set s to "0" & s
            set dt to mth & ":" & dy & ":" & yr as string
            set tm to h & ":" & m & ":" & s as string
            do shell script "sudo /usr/sbin/systemsetup -setdate '" & dt & "'" with administrator privileges
            do shell script "sudo /usr/sbin/systemsetup -settime '" & tm & "'" with administrator privileges
            do shell script "mv \"" & myfile & "\" /var/tmp/clobber"
            do shell script "mv /var/tmp/clobber \"" & myfile & "\""
        end repeat
    end tell
    do shell script "sudo /usr/sbin/systemsetup -setusingnetworktime On" with administrator privileges
    return input
end run

Select the files that do not already have a Date Added (sort by Date Added in Finder, then select the part of the list without a Date Added) and run this service.