Changed permissions for "everyone" - "no access" on Macintosh HD, no boot.
Hello Everyone,
I was trying to change the permissions on my 24" iMac so that main hard drive would not be visible to everyone that could access my network. Unfortunately, I did not know that changing it would effectively lock out the computer all together. Ok, on to what I've done so far.
First, I booted with the Snow Leopard CD and repaired permissions and repaired the drive as well. Both came back with good reports. Tried to reboot and nothing. Just the gray screen of death with the perpetual wheel.
Second, I restored from a Time Machine backup from the same day I changed the permissions,but from an earlier time. It didn't work and still gave me the gray screen, but I may have been mistaken on what time I actually made the changes. I was going to try a second time, but I don't know if permissions are effected with a Time Machine restore.
Third, I tried running some commands in single user mode. /sbin/mount -uw /, /bin/chmod -R o=r,+X /, /usr/sbin/chown root:admin /, /bin/chmod 1775 /, /bin/chmod -N / I've separated them by comma's here but entered them one at a time in the command prompt. The command /bin/chmod -R o=r,+X / kicked out a bunch of errors in trying to change the permissions on the application Windows Media Player, then gave these two errors. /dev/fd/3: Not a directory, /dev/fd/4: Bad file descriptor. Then it gave a few more permissions errors on some songs. After that, I ran the rest of the commands listed above and rebooted. Again, nothing. Just the same gray screen and wheel.
I've also tried starting into safe mode. The bar comes up on the bottom of the screen but goes away, the OS just hangs at the gray screen. I've even tried running a couple sudo commands; however, I have seemed to have locked myself out of those as well.
I have many more Time Machine backup's to try but I am hesitant as I do not know if the previous permissions are attached to the backup itself, or if the changes I've made to the permissions will remain no matter what backup I restore to. I've scoured the internet in an effort to solve the problem; however, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts. It's a pretty 24" paperweight, and a nice nightlight. I liked it better as a computer though, your help would be much appreciated.
I was trying to change the permissions on my 24" iMac so that main hard drive would not be visible to everyone that could access my network. Unfortunately, I did not know that changing it would effectively lock out the computer all together. Ok, on to what I've done so far.
First, I booted with the Snow Leopard CD and repaired permissions and repaired the drive as well. Both came back with good reports. Tried to reboot and nothing. Just the gray screen of death with the perpetual wheel.
Second, I restored from a Time Machine backup from the same day I changed the permissions,but from an earlier time. It didn't work and still gave me the gray screen, but I may have been mistaken on what time I actually made the changes. I was going to try a second time, but I don't know if permissions are effected with a Time Machine restore.
Third, I tried running some commands in single user mode. /sbin/mount -uw /, /bin/chmod -R o=r,+X /, /usr/sbin/chown root:admin /, /bin/chmod 1775 /, /bin/chmod -N / I've separated them by comma's here but entered them one at a time in the command prompt. The command /bin/chmod -R o=r,+X / kicked out a bunch of errors in trying to change the permissions on the application Windows Media Player, then gave these two errors. /dev/fd/3: Not a directory, /dev/fd/4: Bad file descriptor. Then it gave a few more permissions errors on some songs. After that, I ran the rest of the commands listed above and rebooted. Again, nothing. Just the same gray screen and wheel.
I've also tried starting into safe mode. The bar comes up on the bottom of the screen but goes away, the OS just hangs at the gray screen. I've even tried running a couple sudo commands; however, I have seemed to have locked myself out of those as well.
I have many more Time Machine backup's to try but I am hesitant as I do not know if the previous permissions are attached to the backup itself, or if the changes I've made to the permissions will remain no matter what backup I restore to. I've scoured the internet in an effort to solve the problem; however, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts. It's a pretty 24" paperweight, and a nice nightlight. I liked it better as a computer though, your help would be much appreciated.
24" iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6)
