Cannot repair disk errors for OSX boot volume using Disk Utility while booted from different disk

This is a recurring issue in Snow Leopard. The messages are innocuous and may be safely ignored. They will be repeated every time you repair/verify permissions.

1. Why don’t you boot from SL install disk, and run DU from there?

2. ‘After hours—’. Hours? what do you mean? did it take hours for DU to repair permissions? Are you sure? If indeed so, there must a problem with your system.

If you don't believe Kappy, you can read up on it.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?viewlocale=en_US

With all respect to Kappy, I have never experienced such a tragic behavior of SL so that repairing permissions may last hours! And, yes, permissions are not crucial in system behavior, nevertheless—even in SL—they cannot repeat in an endless list immediately after running DU.

In fact, I once experienced a loooong repair permissions, but the system was corrupt, and all ended with an erase-and-install.

ACL errors are usually the result of an upgrade from an older version of OS X such as Tiger to Snow Leopard, for example.

Download ACLr8 1.3.0 and use it to fix the errors.

Note that if you do have real permissions errors you must use Repair Permissions to fix them. Verify does nothing to repair a permission's error. Also note that Disk Utility does not repair permissions in your Home folder.

The software consists a a Unix tool that will be installed on your startup volume. When you run it, it only works on the startup volume. You run the software from a Terminal window.

So, are you trying to reinstall Snow Leopard or Lion? If you've had such a problem with Lion then why not just erase the drive and install Lion from scratch? You can do that if you still have a functioning Recovery HD or if you saved the Lion installer.

Then better luck next time around. Here are some ideas for then:

How to Install Lion Successfully - You must have Snow Leopard 10.6.7 or 10.6.8 Installed

A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:

Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.3.) if DW cannot fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard.

B. Make a Bootable Backup Using Restore Option of Disk Utility:

1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the backup volume. Source means the internal startup volume.

C. Important: Please read before installing:

1. If you have a FireWire hard drive connected, disconnect it before installing the update unless you will boot from this drive and install the update on it. Reconnect it and turn it back on after installation is complete and you've restarted.
2. You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)
3. The installation process should not be interrupted. If a power outage or other interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below) from Apple Downloads to update. While the installation is in progress do not use the computer.

D. To upgrade to Lion:

1. Purchase the Lion Installer from the Mac App Store. The download will start quickly. Lion is nearly 4 GBs so a fast internet connection is essential. Download time could run upwards of 4 hours depending upon network conditions and server demands at the time.
2. Boot From The Lion Installer which is located in your Applications folder.
3. Follow instructions for installation.

Then I would just ignore them for now. The only permanent solution is to erase the drive and install OS X from scratch.