My Imac running Catalina says I don't have read and write access to the hard drive

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Level 2

404 points

My Imac running Catalina says I don't have read and write access to the hard drive

When I try to grant myself access, it says I don't have permission. I've been having trouble with file sharing between my Imac and my Macbook Pro. Sometimes I can see one from the other and sometimes I can't (actually I can always see them but can't always copy files one way or another). I read something about permissions and in looking at my Imac's hard drive it says the Admin only has read access and my name doesn't appear. When I try to grant Admin read and write access I get a message that I don't have permission. Same thing when I try to add myself to the list. This is happening after I enter the admin password and unlock the icon. My laptop has the permissions set correctly. Both are running the latest version of Mac OS Catalina.

Thanks.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Apr 2, 2020 4:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,046 points

Apr 2, 2020 5:39 PM in response to marby

Well, no, you don't have any access to the root level of the startup drive.

That fact has absolutely nothing to do with your problems with file sharing.

The permissions listed are solely for that level of the drive. They have little impact on the underlying folder levels.

What folders are you trying to share, and are you using SMB to share out those folders?

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Answer 2

marby Author

Level 2

404 points

Apr 3, 2020 7:19 AM in response to Barney-15E

I appreciate your response. As the Admin, am I not supposed to have Root access to the hard drive?

I'm just using file sharing on my wifi network between two Catalina machines. I turned on file sharing on both machines. I can see each machine from the other but sometimes cannot copy files one way or the other. It is inconsistent. If I restart my network or my machines it may or may not work. Sometimes when I click on the remote machine I get the option to connect as a registered user or do screen sharing and sometimes I don't. I'm not changing any settings on either machine when this happens. I am usually trying to share documents or media from one machine to the other.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,046 points

Apr 3, 2020 7:28 AM in response to marby

I appreciate your response. As the Admin, am I not supposed to have Root access to the hard drive?

No. root doesn't even have write access to the top level of the startup drive.

Make sure you are using only SMB sharing and toggle File Sharing off then on.

You will often not get a request to log in as it uses your user Information to log into the other Mac.

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Answer 4

marby Author

Level 2

404 points

Apr 3, 2020 7:57 AM in response to Barney-15E

I appreciate your help. On both machines, under the sharing system preference, screen sharing, file sharing and printer sharing are turned on for all users. I presume this refers to SMB sharing. I will try toggling the preferences to see if that helps.

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,046 points

Apr 3, 2020 8:20 AM in response to marby

File Sharing Options. The file sharing protocol has nothing to do with the rest of the sharing services.

Another thing that might help is to delete any keychain entries for connecting to the other Mac in Keychain Access.

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My Imac running Catalina says I don't have read and write access to the hard drive

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