Permissions on an external drive won't allow me to open my backup files.

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Level 1

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Permissions on an external drive won't allow me to open my backup files.

Hi...I have an external drive with some old backup files. These are additional files to my TimeMachine backups. These are image files that I backed up manually at one time. I am now trying to access them, but get an error message "You do not have permission to open the document..."

I can't access any images within this particular folder, and I think there are several other folders with the same issue. I'm not sure why some have the problem and others don't.

If I "Get Info" on one of the folders containing these images, it shows this... "Fetching"...where ADMIN should be. If there is a fix for this in Mojave on a WD external drive? I would really appreciate the help.

I'm on Mojave 10.14.1

Thanks, Tom

Posted on Jan 10, 2019 10:44 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 11, 2019 6:13 AM in response to tturiano

I've never seen the Fetching... thing before, but I've had the permissions problem.

What has always worked for me is:

Click the lock in the bottom right corner.
Enter your password (and an administrator's username if you're not in the admin account)
Click the + sign in the bottom left corner.
Choose your username from the options that come up, and choose Read and Write as your privileges.
Click Apply to Enclosed Items

I hope Mojave hasn't changed these steps too drastically, but it works that way in Mavericks and I think El Capitan.

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Answer 2

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 12, 2019 5:44 PM in response to Theoden_King

Thanks for the ideas Theoden...

I tried repairing disk permissions using Disk Utility, but on the latest version of the Mac OS...Mojave 10.14.1, there doesn't appear to be a "Repair Disk Permissions" function or button anymore, at least not in Disk Utility. I did run the first aid function, and no problems were found.

As for copying the folder back to the external drive....that worked! I changed the name of it, so it wouldn't overwrite the original. Then, side by side, in the external drive, I could open images in the folder that was copied and copied back, while I still could not open any images in the original. So I just deleted the original.

I would be nice to be able to take control of the permissions on the external drive, but at least I have the copy and recopy workaround for now.

thanks, TT

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,610 points

Feb 3, 2019 5:04 PM in response to tturiano

You are moving files from various Macs. The User ID (UID) and username of the original owner may not be the same as what you currently are using on this Mac. Therefore, it finds a UID owning those files that doesn't exist on your current Mac.

You need take ownership of all of the files, then start a new backup.

The drive could be failing. Drives are always failing, just like everyone is always dying.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,610 points

Jan 12, 2019 8:04 PM in response to tturiano

Where on the drive are the files? Are they at the root level of the hard drive, or are they inside folders on the drive?

Since you cannot Ignore Ownership on a Time Machine drive, the root level of the hard drive is somewhat locked down. I'm not sure if that would result in the problem you are seeing, but copying them over to another drive would give you permission to open/edit. I don't know if the security model of Mojave would prevent you from changing the permissions on files at the root level of the drive, but it does prevent you from changing ownership on the root level of the drive itself.

What happened when you tried to add your user to the permissions list for those files?

Fetching means that it cannot find the original owner of the files which makes sense based on your description of the providence of the files. The user set as the owner doesn't exist on your startup drive.

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Answer 5

Jan 13, 2019 7:17 AM in response to tturiano

Just curious - if you haven't already fixed them with the copy-recopy trick - what happens if you create a folder on the external hard drive, put the problem file in it, and apply your permissions to enclosed items on that folder? Could it have to do with being at the root level when you try to change it?

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Answer 6

Jan 11, 2019 3:36 PM in response to Theoden_King

Also, once you've fixed the files to view them on the internal disk, what happens if you copy them back to the external hard drive?

You might be able to access the ones you copy back, if they've been repaired by the change you made on the internal drive.

Then you could just move them There and Back Again in big batches.

If that doesn't work, and repairing disk permissions doesn't (may as well verify the disk for other repairs while you're at it), then it sounds like a reformat is your surest solution.

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Answer 7

tturiano Author

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12 points

Jan 13, 2019 5:05 PM in response to Theoden_King

That worked too! I created a new folder on the external drive and made sure the permission were correct to allow me access. I copied one image over to it from a problem folder and got this message...

As soon as I clicked Continue, I had to enter my admin password, and then I could access the file no problem.

Not sure why the 'fetching' happens, and if it relates to being in the root directory, but you've given me a couple workarounds. Thanks!

t

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Answer 8

tturiano Author

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12 points

Jan 11, 2019 7:38 AM in response to Theoden_King

Thanks Theoden...I tried that and it still did not allow me to preview or open the files. Some help threads talk about restarting im safe mode, doing the steps you mentioned, then entering some code in Terminal, but those steps were for the “fetching” issue on a Mac hard drive.

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Answer 9

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 11, 2019 10:40 AM in response to Theoden_King

Ha! It worked. I can now access the images, which is the most important thing. Thanks!

To solve the issue in the longterm (so I don't have to copy the images to my harddrive everytime I want to see/use them), I guess I could just copy all 50,000 images to my harddrive, reformat the external drive, and then copy them back over.

Anyone have any other ideas on how to avoid having to do that?...using the permissions controls?

thanks, TT

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Answer 10

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 13, 2019 6:44 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks Barney

Makes sense...but my images folder (The one I am having permissions troubles with) is at the same level as my Time Machine folder on that external drive. Strangely… Some of the image folders, actually most of them, are fine. I can read and write them at the admin level directly off the external drive. There are just a handful of folders, including the one that drove me to start this thread, that give the “fetching” message, but I don’t know what the common denominator is.

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Answer 11

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,610 points

Jan 13, 2019 5:49 PM in response to tturiano

Not sure why the 'fetching' happens,…

I explained that. If it is not clear, ask.

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Answer 12

Jan 11, 2019 8:33 AM in response to tturiano

Hmm. Then this is beyond my experience.

Have you tried copying the folder onto the main hard drive? If the problem has anything to do with the disk it's on, this might allow you to fix it.

I'd put it inside another folder on the main hard drive, inside my account, and try applying my read-write permissions to everything inside that folder.

Who knows?

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Answer 13

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 3, 2019 4:19 PM in response to Barney-15E

Barney...Its not clear why fetching happens from what you described above....quoted here...

"Fetching means that it cannot find the original owner of the files which makes sense based on your description of the providence of the files. The user set as the owner doesn't exist on your startup drive."

What do you mean by "providence of the files"? Startup drive on my main computer? I did get a new iMac and the problem arose after that, I think.

I am having the same problem again. This time, Theoden's fixes are not fully working. I can copy a folder with the fetching issue to my hard drive, and view/edit the images, but I can no longer copy the folder back onto the external drive. When I try to drag it, there's a circle with a hashmark through it. I can't even create a new folder on that external hard drive anymore.

Maybe the external hard drive is failing?

thanks, TT

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Answer 14

Jan 11, 2019 3:00 PM in response to tturiano

Have you tried repairing disk permissions using Disk Utility?

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Permissions on an external drive won't allow me to open my backup files.

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