Permissions Help Urgently Needed

Question

Level 1

10 points

Permissions Help Urgently Needed

My permissions on my iMac are all messed-up. Every time I try and move a file/folder, I am asked for my system password. Even when I have entered it, it asks me again and again (even for the same action).

I have tried Unlocking and Changing "Sharing & Permissions" to read-write everyone, for all folders and files. However, even when I do this, it asks me again and again for the same file/folder. I have tried repairing permissions via Disk Utility, but nothing works.

iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Apr 10, 2011 11:35 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

363,039 points

Apr 10, 2011 11:56 AM in response to brit66

Here's a possible solution to fix all permissions on your boot drive:

Boot into single-user mode and at the prompt enter these commands pressing RETURN after each:

mount -uw /
chown root:admin /
chmod 1775 /
reboot

After rebooting Set the following Directory permissions. You can paste these lines or enter by hand, but be careful to enter them correctly.

sudo su

Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not be echoed.

chown root:admin /Applications
chmod 0775 /Applications
chown root:admin /Library
chmod 1775 /Library
chown root:admin /System
chmod 0775 /System
chown root:admin /Users
chmod 0775 /Users
chmod -R -N /Applications
chown -R :admin /Applications/*

I suggest you first print these instructions out using a large mono-spaced font so you can read them correctly.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

210,631 points

Apr 10, 2011 12:01 PM in response to brit66

Did you do anything unusual just before this started?

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

210,631 points

Apr 10, 2011 12:09 PM in response to Kappy

He says he already repaired permissions. Granted that it may not have worked with a damaged system, I think it would be a lot easier and safer to boot from his installation disc and repair permissions by launching Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

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Answer 4

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 2:37 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks. I did the repair by booting from the installation disk. It fixed nothing. I can't remember doing anything strange beforehand. To be honest, it is not used a lot.

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Answer 5

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 2:39 PM in response to Kappy

Hi,

Can you tell me exactly how to do this? I don't want to mess up anything else. How do you boot in to single user mode? Does this bring up Terminal?

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Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

363,039 points

Apr 10, 2011 3:19 PM in response to brit66

There's a link that explains how to boot into single-user mode in my earlier reply.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

210,631 points

Apr 10, 2011 3:43 PM in response to brit66

Please boot in safe mode (shift key down at startup.) Does that make any difference?

If not, enable the guest account in the Accounts preference pane, and log into it. Do you have the same problem in that account?

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Answer 8

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 4:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

I logged-in as a Guest and no problems. I created a new account (Standard) and logged-in and no problems. I created a new account (Administrator) and logged-in and the problem was there.

I logged-in as a Guest in Safe Mode, and no problem. I logged-in under my account in Safe Mode and the problem was there.

Any thoughts?

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Answer 9

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 4:13 PM in response to Kappy

OK, I followed your instructions.

I rebooted in Single User mode and entered the following at prompt:

mount -uw /
chown root:admin /
chmod 1775 /
reboot

It rebooted and just went to my normal screen.

Where do I enter the next set of code?

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

210,631 points

Apr 10, 2011 4:42 PM in response to brit66

Good, then the problem resides in your home folder.

Please open a Terminal window and enter:

ls -ldeO

Copy or drag the above text, don't type it. Post the output.

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Answer 11

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 4:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

Not usre if I did it right:

Last login: Sun Apr 10 17:45:10 on ttys000
iMac-HD-3:~ julianwest$ ls -ldeO
drwxr-xrwx@ 30 julianwest julianwest - 1020 Apr 10 17:11 .
0: group:everyone deny delete
iMac-HD-3:~ julianwest$

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Answer 12

Linc Davis

Level 10

210,631 points

Apr 10, 2011 5:04 PM in response to brit66

Yes, you did it right. Now please copy each of the following commands into the window, one at a time:

sudo chown -R julianwest:staff .
chflags -R nouchg .
chmod -R o-rwx .

After the first one, you'll be prompted for your password. The characters won't be shown when you type it. See if that helps matters.

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Answer 13

brit66 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 10, 2011 5:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

Yes - thanks! All back to normal. Thank you for taking the time with this. Much appreciated.

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