Changes in system preferences are not saved (High Sierra)

When I make settings in system preferences they are not saved. Specifically, when I turn on File Sharing it turns off again when I reboot. I've heard this may be a permissions problem, so I've set my home folder (and all enclosing folders) to "read and write" for all three categories, and used Terminal to run diskutil resetUserPermissions / `id -u`. I did get a -69841 error, so I ran chflags -R nouchg ~, then ran the first command again. It does not seem to help.


Do I need to reset the permissions of my main hard drive? Any other ideas?

Mac Pro, OS X 10.11

Posted on Mar 22, 2021 6:14 AM

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15 replies

Mar 22, 2021 7:57 AM in response to Smashprod

Couple of suggestions...


Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes.


Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.


Do a Get info on your Home folder, unlock the lock in the Get Info panel. Make sure it says you have Read & Write privileges.

Using the tiny gear icon, use the drop down to "Apply to enclosed items...


If need be...


Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...


System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.


System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.


The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.


Sys Prefs>Network>highlight the Interface you're using>Advanced>TCP/IP>Configure IPv4: Using DHCP.


If using Wifi, instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.


System Preferences>Network>choose interface>Advanced>Proxies Tab, make sure none are set, like for HTTP & HTTPS.


System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...


8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

1.1.1.1

9.9.9.9


Apply.

Mar 22, 2021 8:45 AM in response to BDAqua

I changed the permissions on my Home folder, and selected "Apply to enclosed items", but that did not help. They are currently set to "Read & Write" for the top level (my user name), and "Read only" for Staff and Everyone. As I mentioned, I also repaired the permissions using Terminal. My network settings don't affect the problem either.

Mar 22, 2021 11:11 AM in response to BDAqua

It's system-wide, I have the same problem in my test account. This may be illuminating; I was trying to uninstall some old software using Terminal, and it failed. I got this error:


sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting

sudo: unable to initialize policy plugin

Uninstallation stopped.


What does "no valid sudoers sources found"? That sounds like a problem.


By the way, I tried reinstalling the system, that didn't help either.

Mar 22, 2021 11:20 AM in response to Smashprod

I did some more research; it looks like the permissions on my /etc./sudoers file are bad. How do I safely fix them for High Sierra??


NB— did some more research. I went to my hidden /etc folder, found the sudoers file. Everything is "Read & Write"; I'm sure that's wrong and is causing problems. What are the correct permissions, and can I simply set them using command-I? Or does it need to be done via the Terminal, or in single user mode??

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Changes in system preferences are not saved (High Sierra)

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