Cannot change,grant, or modify users on a photo library from a time machine back up.

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Level 1

68 points

Cannot change,grant, or modify users on a photo library from a time machine back up.

I have a Photo Library I would like to access on an external time machine drive. The time machine drive is from a different user (my old user on my old mac). I cannot seem to access the library on my new mac because I do not have read or write permission for the library.

I have already tried to unlock the golden padlock in the get info panel for the library. While I can manage to unlock the padlock, I cannot alter or modify the read or write settings on the library.

I believe I need to somehow change these setting from a higher privilege level than the user account I am using on my new mac. I'm not an expert on mac systems; but maybe someone could guide me on how to access the setting through the "system' user on my mac which I believe would override the user to user limitations?

Below is an image with the error and the greyed out permissions settings.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Dec 24, 2020 10:53 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 2:40 PM in response to Barney-15E

I just figured it out, no root user necessary, no disk migration necessary, no restoration necessary. I simply located the Photos Library on the external Time Machine backup drive through finder, copied the library onto my Macbook's hard drive, and opened the Library with Photos. Seems like it was too easy but with your help I think I found the best solution. Thanks!

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,912 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:31 PM in response to Yama_B

You cannot open a Library that is within a Time Machine back up. It has to be restored first.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/photos/pht6d60348f/mac

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:47 PM in response to Yama_B

Use Migration Assistant and have it migrate that user account over to your new Mac.

You can also "Browse other backup disk" by holding down the Option key and selecting that option from the Time Machine status menu item.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Dec 25, 2020 2:32 PM in response to Yama_B

…because the "Browse other backup disk" option appears to only grant read permissions and I need both Read and Write permissions to access the library through photos.

After you restore it to your home folder or another external drive, you can change the permissions on the restored folder.

It doesn't matter what the permissions are on the backup.

I just found this thread and this might be the easiest and quickest solution to my issue.

Perhaps, but likely not as the system is essentially "rootless," now. Root has very little power to do anything. On an external drive, it may work.

How do you intend to open the Library without restoring it? If you restore it, just change the permissions on the restored Library export from it.

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Dec 25, 2020 3:05 PM in response to Yama_B

I just figured it out, no root user necessary, no disk migration necessary, no restoration necessary. I simply located the Photos Library on the external Time Machine backup drive through finder, copied the library onto my Macbook's hard drive, and opened the Library with Photos. Seems like it was too easy but with your help I think I found the best solution. Thanks!

You weren't trying to do that before? I thought from you post that you tried that and the permissions were stopping you.

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:37 PM in response to Yama_B

The library has not been restored. Its on an external drive inside of a time machine back up. I am locating the library through Finder and attempting to open it with Photos from here.

The Backups are now protected from any actions that might compromise the backup.

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Answer 7

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:44 PM in response to Yer_Man

The Time Machine is from a different device (my old macbook) and a different user (I set-up my new mac as a new user). The article you provided a link to does not provide instructions on how I can access or restore this backup on the new machine with the new user. It applies only to Time Machine backups from the same user on the same machine it appears.

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Answer 8

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:54 PM in response to Barney-15E

Okay I will take a moment to try these options. If I chose the latter option you recommend that will not allow me to restore the library; however, because the "Browse other backup disk" option appears to only grant read permissions and I need both Read and Write permissions to access the library through photos.

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Answer 9

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 2:19 PM in response to Barney-15E

That's understandable. I would still like to change the permissions on the file to allow my new user on my new mac to have read and write privileges on the backup Photo Library. This is the quickest method to solve the issue as I don't have to migrate another user on my mac. I don't even think my mac has enough room to have both users on the system at the same time. I could just open the backup Photos Library once I grant read and write permissions export the library to my HD, then use Photos to open my new Photos Library and import the photos into a single unified library. Can't I do this by using the root user?

I just found this thread and this might be the easiest and quickest solution to my issue.

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Dec 25, 2020 9:24 AM in response to Yama_B

To where did you restore the Library? What folder is it in?

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Answer 11

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 1:08 PM in response to Barney-15E

The library has not been restored. Its on an external drive inside of a time machine back up. I am locating the library through Finder and attempting to open it with Photos from here.

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Answer 12

Yama_B Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 25, 2020 5:07 PM in response to Barney-15E

No, prior I was attempting to open the library from its original location in the external drive. This was stated in the original question. Hope that clarifies the situation.

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Cannot change,grant, or modify users on a photo library from a time machine back up.

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