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User profile for user: stylr
stylr Author
User level: Level 3
630 points

Lion Fetching Permissions Problem???

I am am having an issue where my time machine backups have failed and now I cannot access an external hard drive. I cannot copy anything to it. It returns a -50 error code and says it has users and permission issues. I have repaired the drive, fix permissions on my main drive and run every utility I can think of.


In the Get Info box under users it says one of them is "fetching..." yet it neveres finds/fetches the proper user or admin or staff or whatever it is looking for.


I found this: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20121641-263/file-group-permissions-constan tly-displaying-fetching..-in-os-x/


and it explains my issue. I am a bit hesitant to use terminal as I am wary of screwing something up. I am also a bit confused as the what to replace in the commands with my own usernames and so forth.


Can anyone help me to fix this? I would be forever in your debt. Thank you in advnace.

2 mbp's, mac mini, ipods, iphone 30, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 3:39 PM

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User profile for user: Glenn Leblanc
Glenn Leblanc
User level: Level 6
12,527 points

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 4:07 PM

Follow the instruction to reset the permissions in Lion. Do it exactly like it says and you will not have a problem.


  1. Turn on the Mac whilst holding down cmd + R. You can let go once you see a spinning dial. You will then see the ”Mac OS X Utilities” screen.
  2. On the top menu, click Utilities, then click Terminal.
  3. Type resetpassword and press Enter.
  4. Click on your main hard drive.
  5. In the dropdown box under “Select the user account” make sure to select your username.
  6. Underneath where it says “Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs”, click the Reset button.
  7. Press cmd + Q to quit the Reset Password application.
  8. Press cmd + Q again to quit the Terminal.
  9. Press cmd + Q one more time and click Restart.
  10. Click Mac OS X Utilities in the top left of the screen and click the Restart button.
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User profile for user: Glenn Leblanc
Glenn Leblanc
User level: Level 6
12,527 points

Jan 31, 2012 4:07 PM in response to stylr

Follow the instruction to reset the permissions in Lion. Do it exactly like it says and you will not have a problem.


  1. Turn on the Mac whilst holding down cmd + R. You can let go once you see a spinning dial. You will then see the ”Mac OS X Utilities” screen.
  2. On the top menu, click Utilities, then click Terminal.
  3. Type resetpassword and press Enter.
  4. Click on your main hard drive.
  5. In the dropdown box under “Select the user account” make sure to select your username.
  6. Underneath where it says “Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs”, click the Reset button.
  7. Press cmd + Q to quit the Reset Password application.
  8. Press cmd + Q again to quit the Terminal.
  9. Press cmd + Q one more time and click Restart.
  10. Click Mac OS X Utilities in the top left of the screen and click the Restart button.
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User profile for user: stylr
stylr Author
User level: Level 3
630 points

Jan 31, 2012 4:12 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

The only real issue I am having is it has made copying to an external firewire drive impossible and therefore, rendering my time machine backup ability unuseable. Why won't Apple fix this? I went to three different Genius bar appointments and none could help. All wanted to do a clean install and that's ridiculous.

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User profile for user: stylr
stylr Author
User level: Level 3
630 points

Jan 31, 2012 4:36 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Thank you very much. It isn't TIME MACHINE issues... That is just how I stumbled upon it. I have an external drive that I cannot copy to at all. I have reformatted it and such to no avail. I'll try your fix. I do have one question... It may be dumb but...


you say choose RESETPASSWORD... Do you actually have to reset your password or is this just the path you take to reset permissions and ACL's?


Again, THANK YOU! You rock!

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User profile for user: Glenn Leblanc
Glenn Leblanc
User level: Level 6
12,527 points

Jan 31, 2012 7:48 PM in response to stylr

Sorry, had to leave.

Guess you figured that you didn't have to reset the password. That was just the steps to reset ACLs. It's not to restart twice, it just to get to the restart menu. Step 9 & 10 should have been combined. I just copied that info and pasted.


If you look at the user permissions for your user, you shouldn't have the fetching anymore. It should be yourself (read & write), staff (read only), and everyone (read only).


You might also want to open disk utility and repair permissions there. That should fix permissions outside your user folder.


If you're still having problems with the drive, you might want to erase it and reformat it again. Use Mac OS Extended Journaled format.

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User profile for user: stylr
stylr Author
User level: Level 3
630 points

Jan 31, 2012 8:17 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Reformatted it and it still has "fetching" however, the time machine backup seems to be progressing and copying the files over. I have no idea what is going on. Very perplexing. Perhaps it will actually "fetch" the proper user this time? I wonder, can I just delete the fetching user with the minus sign? Or does it even matter? I seem to be getting the TM backup done so I guess I can just ignore it. That kind of answer frustrates me. I want to figure it out! 🙂

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User profile for user: Glenn Leblanc
Glenn Leblanc
User level: Level 6
12,527 points

Jan 31, 2012 9:14 PM in response to stylr

I would not delete fetching just yet. That may cause more problems. If it's working, I would try to find out exactly what it's all about before trying to fix it.


You can read this thread for a little more info.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3198307?start=0&tstart=0


You said you reformatted the drive. Did you reformat after you fixed your user permissions? I assume your user folder permissions are correct now on your user folder, and it's your external drive that still has fetching on it's permissions. What about the content? Does it have fetching also?



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User profile for user: Glenn Leblanc
Glenn Leblanc
User level: Level 6
12,527 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:51 AM in response to stylr

Well it will take someone with more technical understanding than me to explain that. As long as you can access it now, it should be OK.


Are you formatting the drive using disk utility, or possibly some software that came with the drive? Maybe it's just a type of hardware issue. I just don't know.


You could create a new user for test puproses with administrator priviledges and try reformatting from the new user. That would eleiminate any issues with your user account.

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Lion Fetching Permissions Problem???

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