Can’t create kext cache under / - owner not root.

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Level 4

1,165 points

Can’t create kext cache under / - owner not root.

It turns out clearing the caches didn’t fix this after all. I check under all messages instead of console message and noticed it was still there after I restart. com.apple.kextd{10} is giving me messages when after I restart in the Console saying: "Can’t create kept cache under / - owner not root.” I get this message about 10-15 times right when I finish logging in and also at random times. Any idea what this means?

 iMac 20" 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, ATI Radeon X1600 256MB, 250GB HD, Mac OS X (10.6), Harman Kardon SoundSticks II, HP Photosmart C7250, Maxtor 750GB, iPhone 3GS

Posted on Sep 1, 2009 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,618 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:44 AM in response to pardthemonster

Root is the superuser, which is enabled when the system is given privileges to access the entire hard drive. Normally nothing should need to access root. It should only be accessed when writing to specific parts of the hard drive is absolutely essential. Usually it is enough to have administrative privileges.
People who use MySQL have been known to have to access root, but I don't know of anything else that would need it, unless you had to delete some system file you can't delete any other way.

Are you running any third party system modification tools?

Is your Apple menu -> System preferences -> Accounts showing you as an Admin user?

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Answer 2

Sep 1, 2009 9:48 AM in response to pardthemonster

Odd.

Have you tried repairing permissions? It sounds like the ownership on some files has been set incorrectly.

Is this a warning or an error?

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Answer 3

pardthemonster Author

Level 4

1,165 points

Sep 1, 2009 9:49 AM in response to a brody

Basically com.apple.kextd{10} is giving me messages when after I restart in the Console saying: "Can’t create kept cache under / - owner not root.” I get this message about 10-15 times right when I finish logging in and also at random times. I’m not trying to delete anything, but I’m just concerned something is not right.

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Answer 4

brianjsw

Level 1

15 points

Sep 1, 2009 10:59 AM in response to pardthemonster

Yes, something is not right. I had the same issue upon upgrading to SL. Your owner and group permissions on the / folder probably got hosed. You can make the error go away by doing "sudo chown root:admin /" in Terminal.

Good luck!

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Answer 5

pardthemonster Author

Level 4

1,165 points

Sep 1, 2009 12:42 PM in response to brianjsw

My / privilege are as follows:

username (Me) : Read & Write
staff : Read & Write
everyone : Read only

Is "sudo chown root:admin /“ still the right command for Terminal or do I need it a little different?

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