How long to repair permissions

Question

Level 1

21 points

How long to repair permissions

Got the grey screen...trying to fix with repair permissions...any idea how long it might take to run the repair....I have a 250G drive with about 120G of it used. I am asking just so I know if at some point I should give up....or just leave it for a while while it does its work.

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.5.2), 250G drive

Posted on Mar 1, 2008 5:52 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 1, 2008 5:55 AM in response to BillK7

Hello Bill:

Permission repair takes quite a bit longer under OS X 10.5 than it did under OS X 10.4. The process "seems" to hang, but eventually completes.

However, I suggest you run repair disk from your software install DVD. Permission problems are rarely at the root of problems. Directory problems can cause a variety of problems.

Barry

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Answer 2

BillK7 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 1, 2008 6:00 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

I am running repair from install DVD from Leopard....just wondering if takes ten minutes or a few hours...

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Answer 3

Mar 1, 2008 6:31 AM in response to BillK7

Hello Bill:

What I suggested is to run _repair disk_ from your software install DVD. That is not the same thing as repair permissions.

Repair permissions, in answer to your question, will usually take quite a bit longer than 10 minutes. As I said, it seems to hang, but is really working (if you look at the activity monitor you will see this).

Barry

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Answer 4

BillK7 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 1, 2008 7:28 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

Been running install disc for over an hour.....the blue striped line is not moving but I hear something running....should it take this long....should the blue line not be moving? If I do need to stop...tried hitting the stop permissions and nothing happens...do I power down and try again...didn't check hardware before running repair disc permissions...maybe I should?

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Answer 5

BillK7 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 1, 2008 4:24 PM in response to BillK7

This may help those of us who know so little. Ended up doing achieve and install...took about 2 hrs but worked fine....it might be good for those who know to let us know about how long stuff might take...a little while doesn't help much...need to know if should give up in ten mins or keep pluggin for a few hours...no doubt may have been a shorted solution to my problem but for those of those that are looking this may help you...and for those who offer help..please give us a clue as to about how long to wait till we give up and try something else.

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Answer 6

MGW

Level 7

27,041 points

Mar 1, 2008 4:33 PM in response to BillK7

There is no hard and fast time for repairing permissions - I have a PB running 10.5.2 and it takes almost 45 minutes, but on my intel aluminum iMac also running 10.5.2, it takes 3 minutes.

I generally get impatient when a process stalls as I track it in Activity Monitor and it doesn't do anything for several minutes. An Archive and Install can take as lttle as half-an-hour or the two hours it took you. I'm sorry there's no real answer tyo give you, but machines are variable and so are times.

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Answer 7

BillK7 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 1, 2008 5:52 PM in response to MGW

Miriam,

Thanks for feedback. A big clue would be at what point to give up...power down...and try something else....I realize you can't be exact....but in your experience you know if noting is happening for an hour or more...waiting another hour won't solve the problem. Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 8

Mar 2, 2008 6:35 AM in response to BillK7

Withing 5 minutes. Before, it took about 15. I have never experienced waiting time of 45 minutes.

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Answer 9

BillK7 Author

Level 1

21 points

Mar 2, 2008 4:09 PM in response to Edward Boghosian

Thanks Ed....appreciate the feedback

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