Spurious Permissions "errors" in Mac OS X 10.2
There are a number of spurious error messages issued by the Repair Permissions utility, as listed below. Some are documented in the Knowledge base, in which case a link is given to the relevant article.
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./System/Library/Filesystems/hfs.fs/hfs.util. New permissions are 33261
See Mac OS X: Disk Utility Reports "New permissions are 33261". This occurred from 10.2.2 onwards.
Permissions differ on ./System/Library/Filesystems/hfs.fs/hfs.util, should be -rwsr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x
Owner and group not corrected on ./System/Library/Filesystems/hfs.fs/hfs.util, reason Operation not permitted
This is the pre- 10.2.2 version of the above, but there is no separate KB article.
User differs on ./private/var/db/locate.database, should be 0, owner is -2
Permissions differ on ./private/var/db/locate.database, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -r--r--r--
Owner and group corrected on ./private/var/db/locate.database
Permissions corrected on ./private/var/db/locate.database
There is no KB article specifically for this, but see the next message.
Permissions differ on ./private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb/[text]
Note: The text that appears after "local/nidb" varies, but may include "/Store.288" or "/Clean". See Mac OS X 10.2: Repair Disk Permissions Finds Issue With /private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb/
Group differs on ./private/var/run/utmp, should be 0, group is 1
Owner and group corrected on ./private/var/run/utmp
Permissions corrected on ./private/var/run/utmp
See Repair Disk Permissions Finds Issue With /private/var/run/utmp.
Permissions differ on '/usr/share/man/man3/db.3'
seems to play yo-yo with ...Permissions differ on '/usr/share/man/man3/DB.3'
This occurs because Unix is case-sensitive, but the (usual) underlying file system for Mac OS X, ie HFS+, is not (it is case-preserving, though). There is only one db.3 file and its permissions don't matter.
Permissions differ on ./private/etc/cups/printers.conf, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-------
Owner and group corrected on ./private/etc/cups/printers.conf
Permissions corrected on ./private/etc/cups/printers.conf
I do not know if this matters, but by inspection I doubt it.
There are also issues with /private/etc/hostconfig which may or may not be harmless.
If you have installed the "Security Update 2004-04-05 (10.2.8)" you will additionally see these messages:
Permissions differ on ./usr/share/man/man1/less.1, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -r--r--r--
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/share/man/man1/less.1
Permissions corrected on ./usr/share/man/man1/less.1
Permissions differ on ./usr/share/man/man1/more.1, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -rw-r--r--
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/share/man/man1/more.1
Permissions corrected on ./usr/share/man/man1/more.1
These arise because the Update replaced the two previous 'man' pages for the 'more' and 'less' commands with a single page, linked to both names. Prior to that the two pages had different permissions, since they are now the same they can only have one set.
This list will be updated as more information becomes available.
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