New Install: Admin has no write access

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Level 1

57 points

New Install: Admin has no write access

Hi There,

After performing an erase/install of Mac OS Monterey (upgrading from Big Sur) I have no write access to any of the drives/partitions.

If I try to add the Administers group or my admin user to the disks, I see an error stating I don't have permissions, even though my user is an admin.

I'm sure I could find a way of brute forcing it in Terminal but is this normal? It seems bloody weird - right?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Ben

MacBook Pro 16″

Posted on Jan 14, 2023 4:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,036 points

Jan 14, 2023 7:30 PM in response to cmscss

Being an admin has never meant much. It merely gives you the ability to temporarily elevate your privileges.

However, well before Big Sur, Apple pulled much of the power from root. There really is no super user on macOS, except maybe Apple when updates and upgrades are installed.

Since before Big Sur, nobody can alter the root level of the startup drive. There is no way to change the permissions on that level of the drive. There is also no need to do so.

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Answer 2

cmscss Author

Level 1

57 points

Jan 15, 2023 12:46 AM in response to Barney-15E

So have restarted and can now add my user to the root of the work partition and grant write access. Not sure what went wrong but at least I can copy my work over.

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Answer 3

cmscss Author

Level 1

57 points

Jan 15, 2023 12:01 AM in response to Barney-15E

OK but I can’t even create a folder on an empty partition. This isn’t normal in my experience - right?

Or is this how Monterey works, you have to enter your password to make a folder and you can’t add your user to the disk?

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New Install: Admin has no write access

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