Keychain firstaid

Question

Level 1

40 points

Keychain firstaid

I have had problems with my keychain which prevents safari downloading and other problems. I have run keychain firstaid and get the following:

+Checking keychain configuration for iMac (user ID=502)+
+Home directory is /Users/imac+
+Checked login keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, should be 502, owner is 0+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Checked settings for ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be 502, owner is 501+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Checked default keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be 502, owner is 501+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Keychains/Microsoft IntermediateCertificates+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/TweetDeckFast.F9107117265DB7542C1A806C8DB837742CE14C21.1/ PrivateEncryptedDatak+
+Warning: some problems were not fixed+
+Repair failed+

Other posts suggest resetting the default keychain which I cannot proceed due to the message +"Could not write to the file. It may have been opened with insufficient access privileges".+

Is the only way round this a clean install of Snow Leopard?

MaBook Pro 2.8GHZ, imac, mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Nov 13, 2010 4:39 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 13, 2010 6:47 PM in response to Jak Wild

Jak Wild wrote:
+User differs on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, should be 502, owner is 0+

+User differs on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be 502, owner is 501+

Was your user migrated from another Mac? It sounds like the user ID was 501 on the previous Mac but is not 502.

You should be able to fix this with commands in the Terminal utility. Launch Terminal, then type these commands, terminating each one with the "return" key:

cd Library/Preferences
ls -ln com.apple.*.plist

(In the last commands the letters "l" are lower-case letters "L".)

Oddly, I have no file com.apple.security.plist in my user's Library/Preferences folder.

I'd expect to see that all the files have a user ID (the third "field" in the output) of 502. If you see any with a user ID of 501, that's what's causing your problem. If all the files have a third field of 501 or 502, then it should be fairly safe to run this command:

sudo chown 501 com.apple.*.plist

You'll be prompted for your administrative password. This operation should be safe, but it would be prudent to back up your system before running it.

Reply

Answer 2

Jak Wild Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 13, 2010 7:51 PM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

Hi William (again!)
I have run all the terminal commands you suggested which returns the above:

+Last login: Sun Nov 14 16:38:51 on console+
+localhost:~ iMac$ cd Library/Preferences+
+localhost:Preferences iMac$ ls -ln com.apple.*.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 214 Aug 3 2009 com.apple.50onPaletteServer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1094 Nov 30 2007 com.apple.ActivityMonitor.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 281 Aug 15 14:25 com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1902 Aug 15 08:41 com.apple.AddressBook.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 334 May 7 2010 com.apple.AppleShareClient.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 118 May 17 18:08 com.apple.Automator.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 6017 Jan 26 2009 com.apple.Automator.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 563 Aug 15 15:48 com.apple.BezelServices.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 714 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.Bluetooth.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 983 Jul 27 21:11 com.apple.BluetoothFileExchange.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 72 Nov 6 2009 com.apple.BluetoothSetupAssistant.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 470 Mar 9 2009 com.apple.CharPaletteServer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 341 Oct 15 2009 com.apple.Chess.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 448 May 30 2009 com.apple.ColorSyncCalibrator.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 118 May 17 18:08 com.apple.ColorSyncUtility.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 671 May 31 2009 com.apple.ColorSyncUtility.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 3332 Oct 15 19:30 com.apple.Console.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3757 Dec 4 2008 com.apple.Console.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 104 Nov 18 2009 com.apple.CoreGraphics.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 159 Jun 24 2009 com.apple.CrashReporter.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 81 Oct 27 2009 com.apple.DFSLoginPlugin.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2889 Jun 18 2009 com.apple.DVDPlayer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2935 Aug 10 07:39 com.apple.Dictionary.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 454 Aug 10 07:38 com.apple.DictionaryServices.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 196 Dec 2 2009 com.apple.DictionaryTrainer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 182 Aug 6 18:06 com.apple.DirectoryUtility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1039 Aug 15 15:47 com.apple.DiskUtility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 133 Dec 27 2006 com.apple.DownloadAssessment.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 89 Jul 25 17:16 com.apple.FolderActions.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 221 Sep 11 2009 com.apple.FolderActionsSetup.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 821 Oct 15 2007 com.apple.FontBook.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 381 Oct 8 2009 com.apple.Grab.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 145 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.HIToolbox.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2709 Jan 14 2007 com.apple.ImageCaptureApp.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1249 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.Kotoeri.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 292 Aug 26 2009 com.apple.KotoeriWordRegister.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 5638 Jun 13 14:56 com.apple.LaunchServices.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 119 Sep 1 2009 com.apple.MassStorage.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 119 Aug 14 20:34 com.apple.MassStorageCamera.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 259 Aug 15 11:21 com.apple.MobileDeviceCrashCopy.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 56 Dec 4 2009 com.apple.NetworkDiagnostics.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 122 Aug 16 2008 com.apple.OBEXAgent.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 119 Aug 15 12:51 com.apple.PTPCamera.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 179 Jul 29 09:25 com.apple.PhotoBooth.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 613 Aug 14 23:37 com.apple.PreferenceSync.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 181 Aug 23 2009 com.apple.Preview.ImageSizingPresets.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 9978 Oct 2 15:15 com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3303 Nov 9 2008 com.apple.Preview.bookmarks.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2816 Aug 14 12:57 com.apple.Preview.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 153 Nov 18 2009 com.apple.ProblemReporter.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 101 Aug 13 08:30 com.apple.PubSubAgent.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 191 Jul 18 13:32 com.apple.QuickLookDaemon.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 328 Aug 12 2009 com.apple.Safari.RSS.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 9192 Aug 15 16:10 com.apple.Safari.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 82 Sep 15 2009 com.apple.ScreenSaver.Engine.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 351 Dec 7 2009 com.apple.ScreenSharing.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 1540 Oct 24 11:03 com.apple.ScriptEditor2.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1324 Oct 3 2009 com.apple.ScriptEditor2.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 73 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 171 Dec 12 2009 com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 77 Nov 21 2007 com.apple.Soundtrack.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 436 Oct 22 2007 com.apple.Stickies.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 71 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.Syndication.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 93 Oct 27 2007 com.apple.SyndicationAgent.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 298 Nov 26 2009 com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 11463 May 7 2010 com.apple.Terminal.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 7953 Nov 13 13:10 com.apple.TextEdit.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1021 Jun 13 15:00 com.apple.TextEdit.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 82 Sep 27 2009 com.apple.UserNotificationCenter.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3802 Oct 6 2008 com.apple.VoiceOver.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2901 Oct 15 2009 com.apple.VoiceOver.pronunciations.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 241 Oct 15 2009 com.apple.VoiceOverUtility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 75 Nov 4 2009 com.apple.WebFoundation.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2560 Aug 12 12:08 com.apple.WebKit.PluginHost.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 275 Sep 23 2007 com.apple.airport.adminutility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 747 Aug 15 15:52 com.apple.airport.airportutility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 182 Nov 10 2009 com.apple.archiveutility.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 254 Sep 23 2007 com.apple.audio.AudioMIDISetup.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 182 Sep 30 2007 com.apple.bomarchivehelper.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 666 Aug 6 21:03 com.apple.calculator.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 278 Aug 7 18:50 com.apple.dashboard.client.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 6910 Aug 7 18:51 com.apple.dashboard.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1586 Aug 15 16:13 com.apple.desktop.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 284 Apr 18 2008 com.apple.digihub.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 5995 Aug 15 16:11 com.apple.dock.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 72 Jun 1 2007 com.apple.dotmaccertificatefix.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 66 Oct 30 2006 com.apple.dotmactranslator.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 237 Jun 11 18:23 com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 205 Aug 9 2009 com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 47683 Aug 15 16:13 com.apple.finder.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 245 Aug 11 20:19 com.apple.frameworks.diskimages.uiagent.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3280 Aug 15 13:13 com.apple.frontrow.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 9899 Sep 1 13:30 com.apple.garageband.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 239283 Aug 6 23:15 com.apple.garageband.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 7285 Aug 15 15:51 com.apple.help.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1047 Aug 6 18:01 com.apple.helpviewer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 711 Aug 15 15:49 com.apple.iApps.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 154 Oct 4 2007 com.apple.iCal.AlarmScheduler.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 119 Aug 15 15:48 com.apple.iCal.helper.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 1706 Mar 14 2009 com.apple.iCal.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 108 Aug 15 15:04 com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 257 Aug 15 15:04 com.apple.iChat.Jabber.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 190 Jul 26 22:32 com.apple.iChat.StatusMessages.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 119 Aug 15 15:04 com.apple.iChat.SubNet.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 758 Jul 26 22:32 com.apple.iChat.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2892 Jul 11 2007 com.apple.iChatAgent.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 118 May 17 18:08 com.apple.iDVD.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3973 Apr 14 2008 com.apple.iDVD.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 118 May 17 18:08 com.apple.iMovie.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 5699 Jul 31 2008 com.apple.iMovie.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 14392 Mar 9 2009 com.apple.iMovie7.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 4674 Jul 29 15:09 com.apple.iMovie8.plist+
+-rw------- 1 501 502 2022 Oct 30 16:54 com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 18174 Aug 15 00:16 com.apple.iPhoto.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2111 Aug 15 12:43 com.apple.iPod.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 14702 Sep 21 2009 com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 359864 Aug 15 15:53 com.apple.iTunes.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 57 Sep 16 2009 com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1944 Aug 23 2008 com.apple.iWeb.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 721 Jul 26 21:11 com.apple.iWork.Keynote.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1421 Oct 26 2009 com.apple.iWork.Pages.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 2201 Aug 14 16:20 com.apple.inputmethod.Kotoeri.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 81 Oct 25 2009 com.apple.installer.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 7043 Aug 11 21:44 com.apple.internetconfig.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 435 Aug 14 08:39 com.apple.internetconfigpriv.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 486 Dec 4 2009 com.apple.internetconnect.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 308 Jan 2 2008 com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 247 Sep 27 2008 com.apple.isync.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 1003 Aug 15 15:56 com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 202 Nov 12 2009 com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1401 Aug 14 14:36 com.apple.keychainaccess.plist+
+-rw------- 1 502 502 10076 Nov 14 16:39 com.apple.loginitems.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 217 Aug 15 15:47 com.apple.loginwindow.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 31734 Aug 15 14:02 com.apple.mail.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 962 Nov 26 2009 com.apple.mail.searchhistory.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 65 Aug 15 15:48 com.apple.menuextra.textinput.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 120 Oct 30 2009 com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 431 Sep 23 2007 com.apple.print.PrintCenter.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 314 Jul 25 18:12 com.apple.print.PrinterProxy.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 206 Jul 25 18:12 com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 296 Oct 25 2009 com.apple.print.add.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 2289 Aug 12 20:58 com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.Canon MP560_series__3EA76A0000001.plist+
+-rw-r--rw-@ 1 501 80 4341 Nov 27 2009 com.apple.print.custompresets.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 78 Aug 17 2007 com.apple.print.favorites.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 24157 Jul 31 10:29 com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 4753 Aug 15 08:47 com.apple.quicktimeplayer.plist+
+-rw------- 1 502 502 3905 Nov 14 16:46 com.apple.recentitems.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 326 Oct 25 2007 com.apple.scheduler.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 921 Oct 13 2009 com.apple.screenreaderd.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 181 Sep 27 2008 com.apple.security.certreq.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 1021 Apr 26 2009 com.apple.security.plist+
+-rw------- 1 502 502 5438 Nov 14 16:39 com.apple.sidebarlists.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 68 Jan 31 2009 com.apple.soundpref.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 60 Oct 21 2009 com.apple.speech.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 12782 Oct 21 2009 com.apple.speech.recognition.AppleSpeechRecognition.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 585 Oct 21 2009 com.apple.speech.recognition.feedback.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 170 Oct 9 2008 com.apple.speech.recognition.recognizer.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 414 Feb 2 2009 com.apple.speech.synthesis.general.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 128 Oct 9 2008 com.apple.speech.voice.prefs.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 143 Dec 12 2009 com.apple.spotlight.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3747 Oct 4 2009 com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 82 Dec 12 2009 com.apple.systemevents.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 3392 Aug 15 15:24 com.apple.systempreferences.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 468 Jun 30 2009 com.apple.systemsound.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 856 Aug 15 15:48 com.apple.systemuiserver.plist+
+-rw-r--rw- 1 501 80 563 Oct 21 2009 com.apple.universalaccess.plist+
+localhost:Preferences iMac$ sudo chown 501 com.apple.*.plist+

After I restart I still get requests that Mac OS and safari require "the loginkeychain".

On running Keychain firstaid after your suggestions the repair still failed as follows:

+Repair started+
+Checking keychain configuration for iMac (user ID=502)+
+Home directory is /Users/imac+
+Checked login keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, should be 502, owner is 0+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Unable to read settings for ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be 502, owner is 501+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Checked default keychain+
+User differs on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be 502, owner is 501+
+Permissions incorrect on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rw-r--rw-+
+Owner not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Permission denied+
+Permissions not corrected on ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, reason: The operation couldn’t be completed. Operation not permitted+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Keychains/Microsoft IntermediateCertificates+
+Checked contents of ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/TweetDeckFast.F9107117265DB7542C1A806C8DB837742CE14C21.1/ PrivateEncryptedDatak+
+Warning: some problems were not fixed+
+Repair failed+

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Answer 3

Nov 13, 2010 8:38 PM in response to Jak Wild

Jak Wild wrote:
I have run all the terminal commands you suggested which returns the above:

Apologies for giving you advice that was flawed in two ways:

- The "sudo" command should have specified 502, not the 501 that was already there.
- You should also run similar commands on ~/Library/Keychains:

cd ~/Library/Keychains
sudo chown 502 *.keychain

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Answer 4

Jak Wild Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 13, 2010 9:37 PM in response to Jak Wild

Yes that's done the trick thanks

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Answer 5

Jak Wild Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 20, 2010 3:37 PM in response to Jak Wild

I'm continuing to have problems with the keychain where applications such as mail, safari itunes have not updated keychain info and ask for login passwords.

All of thepasswords in keychain are dated from 2007 with new ones added only since I did the above changes. I have tried resetting the default Keychainbut can't as I get the message: +Unable to obtain authorization for this operation.+

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Answer 6

Nov 21, 2010 9:09 AM in response to Jak Wild

Jak Wild wrote:
I'm continuing to have problems with the keychain where applications such as mail, safari itunes have not updated keychain info and ask for login passwords.

You might try having the Keychain Access utility do a "Keychain First Aid" operation. That option is under the "Keychain Access" menu.

I have tried resetting the default Keychainbut can't as I get the message: +Unable to obtain authorization for this operation.+

It seems that you still have a problem with proper ownership of your files. Try this command in a Terminal session, where the "l"s are lower-case letter "L"s and the symbol before "grep" is a "vertical bar":

ls -l -R -n | grep 501

That will show you any files within your home folder hierarchy that are owned by "501" instead of by you ("502"). Unfortunately, since that "grep" command will filter out headings for directories that you own, it may not show you where those files are. If you see any files owned by "501", you'll need to do a little research to locate them. Spotlight may be able to help.

Reply

Answer 7

Jak Wild Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 24, 2010 9:57 PM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

I've tried the terminal command as you suggest which returns 100s of files with 501 in the third field. What do I do with these?

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Answer 8

Nov 25, 2010 1:44 PM in response to Jak Wild

Jak Wild wrote:
I've tried the terminal command as you suggest which returns 100s of files with 501 in the third field. What do I do with these?

It would probably be a good idea to change the owner of those files to your new user ID. The safest way to do that is probably to use the Finder menu option File -> Get Info on one of those files, click on the lock to authenticate, click on the "plus" sign at the bottom to add yourself, then click on the gear icon and select "Make (you) the owner". For a large number of files that could take quite a while.

You could use a "chown" command in a Terminal session, but done incorrectly, that could make your Mac unbootable. If you're interested in that approach, ask for details.

Reply

Answer 9

Jak Wild Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 26, 2010 4:19 PM in response to Jak Wild

If I could safely do the chown command in terminal I would as there are so many files to change. What would I need to do and what are the precautions?

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Answer 10

Nov 26, 2010 9:07 PM in response to Jak Wild

Jak Wild wrote:
If I could safely do the chown command in terminal I would as there are so many files to change. What would I need to do and what are the precautions?

There are at least two things you can do to make such a chown operation safer. (1) Assure that you're positioned in a directory where you're sure you want to change the owner (most safely, within your home directory). (2) Do an "ls" command and save the output to a file so that if you change something that you shouldn't have, you can restore it.

To do the former thing, position yourself somewhere, then issue a "pwd" command. It will show you the current directory. To do the latter thing, issue this command:

ls -l -n > ~/somefilename.txt

where "somefilename" is replaced by something meaningful. That will write the output of the "ls" command to the file somefilename.txt in your home directory.

So here's how I'd proceed:

1) Launch Terminal. In the following commands ignore quotes.
2) Use the Finder to move to a window showing a closed folder containing files with the wrong ownership.
3) In the Terminal window, type the letters "c", "d", and space. (Do not type the quotes or a "return".)
4) Drag the icon of the closed folder into the Terminal window. Press the "return" key.
5) Type the command "pwd" and press the "return" key. Assure that the reported position is what you want.
6) Type the command "ls -l -n". Note that all files are owned by either "501" (the old account) or "502" (your account). If that's not true, do not proceed.
7) Type the command "ls -l -n > ~/somefilename.txt", where you should substitute something appropriate for "somefilename".
8) Type the command "chown -v 502 *" followed by a "return". All the files being given the new owner will be listed. Verify that the expected files are listed.
9) Repeat the command "ls -l -n".
10) If you see that the files have "502 501" in their listings, then issue the command "chgrp -v 502 *", which will change the "group" of the file. Now repeat the last "ls" command again to assure that all the files have "502 502" in their listings.
11) If you're sure that everything is still working, you can at some point delete the file "somefilename.txt" in your home directory.

If you can do that successfully, you can repeat starting with step 2 with another folder. One tip: To avoid having to retype commands and taking the chance of making a mistake, you can use the up-arrow to recall previous commands, then press "return" to execute the command again.

There is a more-powerful way to use the "chown" and "chgrp" commands that can update an entire hierarchy at once. I hesitate to describe that now until you're more comfortable with your ability to use them safely.

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