_unknown user and no permission to access files

Question

_unknown user and no permission to access files

So about 6 months ago I cahnged jobs and created a new user id so I have a home and a work id. I think I changed the main id when I did that. Then, about 3 months ago I upgraded the hard drive in my mac book pro so I would have more space. Took it to Springboard Media in PA (recommended by the Apple store). Paid for the back up. They did the upgrade and promised that I wouldn't notice any difference - I would be able to pick up working where I left off. That was sort of true. There were apps I had to re-register and photos for Elements that I needed to reidentify where they sat, etc. Small problems. Went to pull some pictures offan external HD that I have (not time machine, just drag and drop files moved off the macbook's HD) - for the first time since the upgrade - but I am now being told that I don't have permission to view the files. The permissions show that _unknow is the user with permission to access.

I am literate enough to have read related posts and think it has to do with either the change in user ids or the hard drive upgrade, or both. But, I admit to not understanding enough to understand what solution might apply to me, and how to apply it. Any help - in simplier, dumbed down computer speak - would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Posted on Jul 23, 2012 2:04 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 9, 2012 11:38 AM in response to KarateTiggerGirl

Bring the Termianal.app window to the forefront. Hold down the control key and the c key. The process should stop and your prompt should return to ->

kristen-winskos-computer:~ Kristen$

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Answer 2

Aug 9, 2012 12:03 PM in response to Mark Jalbert

Whew! Finally finished! Here's the results of the last instruction:

total 11681432

drwxr-xr-x 94 503 503 - 3264 Apr 2 07:22 .

drwxrwxrwt@ 7 0 80 hidden 238 Aug 9 09:12 ..

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 hidden 67588 Jul 11 12:51 .DS_Store

drw-------@ 3 503 503 hidden 102 Mar 30 2010 .Spotlight-V100

drwxrwxrwt@ 3 503 503 hidden 102 Jan 7 2011 .TemporaryItems

d-wx-wx-wt@ 3 503 503 - 102 Jul 11 13:41 .Trashes

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 0 Mar 30 2010 .com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent

drwx------ 67 503 503 - 2278 Aug 9 14:43 .fseventsd

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 3848320 Nov 19 2010 04. Thousand Foot Krutch - Heat Miser.mp3

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Mar 5 12:48 2007

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Mar 31 17:39 2007a

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Jul 10 11:24 2008

-rwxrwxrwx 1 503 503 - 383255 Mar 24 2010 2008 Winsko B Form 1040 Individual Tax Return REVISED 2010.pdf

-rwxrwxrwx 1 503 503 - 387064 Mar 24 2010 2008 with bad golden para number.pdf

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Jul 10 09:41 2008a

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Jul 10 09:41 2009

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Sep 25 2010 2009a

drwxrwxrwx 33 503 503 - 1122 Jul 10 09:28 2010

drwxr-xr-x@ 182 503 503 - 6188 Nov 22 2010 20101122am

drwxr-xr-x@ 204 503 503 - 6936 Nov 22 2010 20101122pm

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 92160 Mar 26 2011 3-20-10 minutes - FOR PRINTING.doc

drwxr-xr-x 194 503 503 - 6596 Jul 28 2011 7-28 files

drwxr-xr-x 24 503 503 - 816 Dec 8 2010 A Perry Como Christmas

drwxr-xr-x 91 503 503 - 3094 Mar 24 2011 Already moved

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 5319588 Mar 8 2011 Avril Lavigne - Bad Reputation.mp3

drwxr-xr-x+ 3 503 503 - 102 Mar 30 2010 Backups.backupdb

drwxr-xr-x 243 503 503 - 8262 Jul 21 2011 Calibre Library

drwxr-xr-x 9 503 503 - 306 Nov 26 2010 Cayman Pics Nov 2010

drwxr-xr-x 52 503 503 - 1768 Dec 29 2011 Cipperman & Co Work

drwxrwxrwx@ 128 503 503 - 4352 Nov 25 2010 DAY2

drwxr-xr-x@ 234 503 503 - 7956 Nov 25 2010 DAY4

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 4769504768 Jan 3 2012 Database

drwxr-xr-x@ 175 503 503 - 5950 Nov 25 2010 Day1

drwxr-xr-x@ 388 503 503 - 13192 Nov 25 2010 Day3

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 hidden 1024 Mar 25 2010 Desktop DB

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 hidden 2 Mar 25 2010 Desktop DF

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 805825 Dec 31 2008 Disney - Winnie the Pooh - Tigger Song.mp3

drwxr-xr-x@ 21 503 503 - 714 Jul 27 2011 Downloads

drwxrwxrwx 22 503 503 - 748 Mar 24 2010 Family Stuff and Addresses

drwxrwxrwx 54 503 503 - 1836 Mar 24 2010 Finances

drwxr-xr-x@ 80 503 503 - 2720 Apr 8 17:31 Financial

drwxrwxrwx 20 503 503 - 680 Mar 24 2010 Flamel

drwxr-xr-x 4 503 503 - 136 Mar 31 16:30 Galapagos 2012

drwxrwxrwx 2 503 503 - 68 Jun 8 2011 GarageBand

drwxr-xr-x 428 503 503 - 14552 Mar 5 12:07 Harry Potter Audio Books

drwxr-xr-x@ 3 503 503 - 102 Oct 2 2011 How to Train Your Dragon (2010).dvdmedia

drwxr-xr-x 12 503 503 - 408 Dec 29 2011 Ireland

drwxrwxrwx 28 503 503 - 952 Mar 24 2010 Job Hunt

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 14541227 Feb 28 2011 John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman - The Fire Scene And The Coming of War Medley.mp3

drwxr-xr-x@ 23 503 503 - 782 Sep 13 2011 Ki Gong Pictures

drwxr-xr-x 25 503 503 - 850 Jan 28 2010 Kristen

drwxrwxrwx 5 503 503 - 170 Aug 23 2010 Lazard

drwxrwxrwx 33 503 503 - 1122 Mar 24 2010 Manor Funds

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 2824228 Mar 16 2010 Manual.pdf

drwxrwxrwx 152 503 503 - 5168 Mar 5 10:37 Misc

drwxrwxrwx 8 503 503 - 272 Mar 24 2010 Morris

drwxr-xr-x 123 503 503 - 4182 Dec 3 2011 Music

-rw-r--r-- 1 503 503 - 6745138 Feb 15 2011 My Darkest Days - **** Star Dancing [Bonus Track].mp3

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 7343437 Mar 11 2011 OneRepublic - Secrets.mp3

drwxrwxrwx 4 503 503 - 136 Mar 24 2010 PFJ Consulting

drwxrwxrwx 14 503 503 - 476 Mar 24 2010 Philadelphia Inv Partners

drwxr-xr-x 4 503 503 - 136 Oct 4 2011 Pics - moved

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 39936 Sep 21 2010 Register to win form.doc

-rwxrwxrwx 1 503 503 - 83968 Mar 26 2011 STATEMENT OF THE CASE final copy.doc

drwxrwxrwx 3 503 503 - 102 Mar 24 2010 Sadis:Skybridge:Citi Purchase

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 6943187 Feb 19 2011 Saving Abel - The Sex Is Good.mp3

-rwxrwxrwx 1 503 503 - 60728 Jun 10 2011 Scanned Doc..PDF

drwxrwxrwx 29 503 503 - 986 Mar 24 2010 School

drwxrwxrwx 3 503 503 - 102 Mar 25 2010 SunGard FIX Flyer

drwxrwxrwx 69 503 503 - 2346 Mar 24 2010 TSD

drwxrwxrwx 38 503 503 - 1292 Oct 2 2011 TSD1

drwxr-xr-x 3 503 503 - 102 Feb 23 2011 The Perfect Christmas 2006

-rw-r--r--@ 1 503 503 - 3276192 Aug 21 2009 Veronica Mars - 1x10 - Year Without A Santa Claus - Heat Miser.mp3

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 15029 Nov 11 2009 WTSDA_WTSDF Income and Expense for Sales Exemption Form.xlsx

drwxrwxrwx 68 503 503 - 2312 Mar 24 2010 Will Mullin RIA

drwxr-xr-x 7 503 503 - 238 Dec 29 2011 Work for Jay

drwxr-xr-x 8 503 503 - 272 Apr 2 2010 april 2 2010 backup

-rw-r--r-- 1 503 503 - 1157907455 Jun 27 2011 bewitched_2005_133_2398_1500k.wmv

drwxrwxrwx 90 503 503 - 3060 Mar 24 2010 clip art

-rwxrwxrwx 1 503 503 - 103936 Mar 26 2011 first page.doc

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 221184 Sep 22 2010 fishbowl label.doc

-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 503 503 - 319500 Sep 21 2010 free month coupons.pdf

drwxr-xr-x 14 503 503 - 476 Jul 4 2011 from flash drive A

drwxrwxrwx@ 27 503 503 - 918 Dec 8 2011 iPhoto Library

drwxr-xr-x 11 503 503 - 374 Jul 25 2011 iTunes

drwxr-xr-x 4 503 503 - 136 Jun 16 2011 iphoto lib june 2011

drwxr-xr-x 9 503 503 - 306 Mar 28 2010 march 28 2010 backup

drwxrwxrwx 3 503 503 - 102 Mar 24 2010 new music

drwxrwxrwx 12 503 503 - 408 Mar 24 2010 other book stuff

drwxr-xr-x 6 503 503 - 204 Jan 20 2010 songs for ipod

drwxrwxrwx 28 503 503 - 952 Mar 24 2010 stories and story info

drwxrwxrwx 28 503 503 - 952 Mar 24 2010 xshares

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Answer 3

Aug 9, 2012 1:01 PM in response to KarateTiggerGirl

Note the id numbers from your original ls -aln post to the lastest ls -alnO.

-rw-r--r--@   1 501  501  
3848320 Nov 19  2010 04. Thousand Foot Krutch - Heat Miser.mp3


drwxrwxrwx
4 501  501  
136 Mar  5 12:48 2007


drwxrwxrwx
4 501  501  
136 Mar 31 17:39 2007a


drwxrwxrwx
4 501  501  
136 Jul 10 11:24 2008


-rwxrwxrwx
1 501  501  
383255 Mar 24  2010 2008 Winsko B Form 1040  Individual Tax Return REVISED 2010.pdf


-rwxrwxrwx
1 501  501  
387064 Mar 24  2010 2008 with bad golden para number.pdf




-rw-r--r--@   1 503  503  -   3848320 Nov 19  2010 04. Thousand Foot Krutch - Heat Miser.mp3

drwxrwxrwx
4 503  503  -   136 Mar  5 12:48 2007


drwxrwxrwx
4 503  503  -   136 Mar 31 17:39 2007a


drwxrwxrwx
4 503  503  -   136 Jul 10 11:24 2008


-rwxrwxrwx
1 503  503  -   383255 Mar 24  2010 2008 Winsko B Form 1040  Individual Tax Return REVISED 2010.pdf


-rwxrwxrwx
1 503  503  -   387064 Mar 24  2010 2008 with bad golden para number.pdf

I believe the problem is fixed or partial fixed. I don't see any file flags so I'm not sure what the error messages are.

Try using the files on the drive My Book and let us know if you are still having problems.

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Answer 4

Aug 9, 2012 1:10 PM in response to Mark Jalbert

Thanks you! That solved most of it. I still see the little red and white icon on a few files - the ones when I enter time machine - but that took care of most of the files!

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