Permissions problem copying files between two Macs

Question

Level 2

305 points

Permissions problem copying files between two Macs

I've run into a strange problem when trying to copy files between two networked Macs. Some background facts: We have two Macs at home each with three accounts. Two of the accounts are regular user accounts (my wife's and mine, call them "K" and "B" for short) and the third is an administrator account (we'll call it "A"). I have a .Mac account, which I use to sync between the two Macs. The other accounts do not. The user accounts B & K were initially set up on the second Mac via the Migration Assistant, copying over files and settings. The administrator account was not.

The problem I've run into is that if I am logged in as either user B or K on the local Mac, connect to the remote Mac as the corresponding user, and try to copy files into a folder owned by that same user on the remote Mac, I get a series of three dialog boxes with error messages:

1) "You may need to enter the name and password for an administrator on this computer to change the item named ..." (stop/continue)
2) "The item ... contains one or more items you do not have permission to read. Do you want to copy the items you are allowed to read?" (stop/continue)
3) "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."

If I go all the way through this hitting continue / OK on each, what shows up on the remote computer at the end is an empty file with the name and filetype of the local file that I was trying to copy, but of zero length.

This only happens when I'm copying from (local.B -> remote.B) or (local.K -> remote.K). It does not happen if I try any of the other pairwise combinations (assuming that I've authenticated properly): (local.B -> remote.K or remote.A), (local.K -> remote.B or remote.A), (local.A -> remote.B, remote.K or remote.A). It happens regardless of which Mac is local and which is remote.

I'm a little baffled. I've tried to search for this on Apple Discussions and other forums, but either haven't been using the right keywords or am coming up blank.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Bob

Mac Pro, MacBook, iMac, iPhone, Mac OS X (10.5.2), VMWare Fusion

Posted on Feb 16, 2008 10:18 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 2, 2008 11:21 PM in response to Robert DuBose

Did you every determine a solution to your issue? My computer is now exhibiting the exact same behavior.

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2008 12:15 AM in response to Robert DuBose

Have you tried repairing the permissions.

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Answer 3

Jason Kim

Level 2

184 points

Apr 27, 2008 10:00 AM in response to Robert DuBose

Sounds like I have this problem too. I have an old iMac running Tiger and a new iMac running Leopard. The data and user accounts on the new iMac were migrated from the old iMac, but I changed the network names of the two computers so they won't get mixed up. File sharing is activated on the new iMac and I can access it just fine from a PC in my home network (read and write). But when I access it from the old iMac, I can see the entire HD, but I can only copy filenames with zero content from the old iMac to the new iMac. It says "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items." How irritating. Please somebody tell me what is happening here.

Jason

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Answer 4

May 9, 2008 7:58 AM in response to Robert DuBose

I am now getting this problem on my LAN. Specifically, I get the permission problems when I am on my Macbook using Leopard 10.5.2, trying to transfer files to my wife's Macbook running Tiger 10.4.11. There is no problem if I'm on the Tiger Macbook, so it appears to be a problem with Leopard. My LAN is wireless, using a Netgear router. The Leopard Macbook has another network problem: it won't print on the network printer (an HP PSC 1210 connected by USB to an iMac G4 running Panther).
I'm considering doing a complete re-install of Leopard, using the combo updater. I assume that I'll be able to use my Time Machine backups to restore settings, apps etc. so it shouldn't be too difficult.

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Answer 5

May 26, 2008 6:39 AM in response to Robert DuBose

1) "You may need to enter the name and password for an administrator on this computer to change the item named ..." (stop/continue)

2) "The item ... contains one or more items you do not have permission to read. Do you want to copy the items you are allowed to read?" (stop/continue)
3) "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."<<<<<

Anyone solve this? I have the same situation... MacBook Pro, 10.5.2 with a wireless connection (via a Linksys 54G Router) to a wired 1.8 G5 with 10.4.11. and an external FW drive. Everything is opened up permissions wise.

Makes no sense to me...

Lee

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Answer 6

May 26, 2008 11:38 AM in response to Lee Faulkner1

My issue seems to be only when using Networking to connect to the remote Tiger machine...

If I connect via Apple Remote Desktop it all works fine ... but many won't be able to access that solution! ($$)... and shouldn't need to. I guess it's 'cos ARD runs everything as root user...

On my set up when I connect to the remote Mac via normal networking under Leopard, it says 'Connected as Guest'. I then log in as the admin user ... but even then I can't access any of that users folders. Or even the Shared User. All permissions I can see in the Get Info window show Read and Write ...

I've repaired permissions on both machines ... installed all updates... no difference!
What's happening here?

Thanks

Lee

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Answer 7

borbye

Level 1

9 points

Jun 5, 2008 12:43 PM in response to Robert DuBose

Same darn problem here.....

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Answer 8

Jun 6, 2008 8:20 AM in response to Robert DuBose

I have the same problem. I have a Powerbook running 10.4.11 and a Macbook Pro running 10.5.3. I can copy files back and forth fine over AFP if I am on the Leopard Macbook, but on the Tiger Powerbook I get "the operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items" with every file transfer - EVEN to a separate partition on the Leopard Macbook that is set to ignore ownership & permissions!

I've tried all sorts of configurations, removed ACLs on the entire "ignore ownership & permissions" partition and chmod 777'd the **** out of everything I could think of on the disk. Nothing works.

Message was edited by: Arvid Tomayko-Peters1

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Answer 9

borbye

Level 1

9 points

Jun 6, 2008 9:36 AM in response to Robert DuBose

I believe I have found the problem. Every user has a UID number. Even though the username and login is the same you might have a different UID number. The UID number has to be the same if you need to copy to another computer with the same user. Eg user xxx with UID 501 can not copy to another mac with same user xxx with UID 502.

The first user that is established on an OSX disc is given UID number 501. Normally next user is given UID 502. In my case I could not import my existing user during first run with my new MB Air. Had to establish a testuser and later import my existing user. It turned out that the testuser was giver UID 501 and my existing user was given UID 502. Result was the existing users on the two macs are not the same even thoug the username and login is identical..

Check your users in systemprefs -> accounts - open the lock and right click on user -> choose advanced options.

NB: Dont even think you can just change the UID for the user and it will work..... If some more advanced users have a script to change the UID for all files in a home folder, please let us know..

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Answer 10

one51mac

Level 1

10 points

Jun 13, 2008 8:08 AM in response to borbye

borbye is correct that this will remedy the problem but there is a way to do it and have your account work. after changing the user UID and group UID to 501 you will have to restart. then when you log on your home folder will still be your default but you will not have any access. Since you are still an admin you can change that. right click on the home folder and select get info click arrow for sharing and permissions. Your old UID account will show up as _unknown delete this user and add your user to it giving yourself read and write privilege. click on the cog on the bottom and select apply to enclosed items. A warning box will appear stating that this process cannot be undone do you wish to proceed? click yes and a status bar will come up. once the bar is gone the process is complete. since you didn't have access to your home folder you cannot save your settings, this is a good thing since your account will not look remotely the same as yours most likely. all you have to do now is logout and then back in. Your account will look as it did before the change with all the access settings and so forth as before the change... minus some permissions due to the overwrite. It's a minor repair to the permissions to some shares considering you will be able to now move files to and these shares without the permissions alert that only creates a 4kb file instead of the real thing. Takes 5 minutes at most. Have fun.

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