Shared iPhoto library file permissions are corrupted.

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Level 1

8 points

Shared iPhoto library file permissions are corrupted.

I am using the alternative option mentioned in the technote. The iPhoto library is located in /Users/Shared.

When my wife adds photos to iPhoto from her account, the files have a permission set of 640 (rw-------) on the file system.

When I add photos from my account, the files have a 666 (rw-rw-rw-) permission set.

I found that by using the iPhoto 'Examine and repair iPhoto Library file permissions' process it fixes the issue..although I'd really like to find the main cause of her files have a 640 permission set.

Posted on Aug 20, 2012 7:08 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Aug 20, 2012 10:06 AM in response to JasonOnMac

Remember iPhoto is a series of interlinked databases, so permissions are different than ordinary files and folders. That's why there is an option to repair the permissions with iPhoto. I would note that many people with the Library in Users/Shared report permissions issue on 10.6 and later, which may be related to changes in ACLs at that point. You might avoid these issues by putting the Library on an external disk set to ignore permissions.

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Answer 2

Tom Fish

Level 1

0 points

Nov 4, 2012 1:18 PM in response to JasonOnMac

I have been doing what JasonOnMac has been doing since Snow Leopard, AND I have the same issue. AND I used to resolve it the same way. Recently, iPhoto want to repair the permsiions on it's own (and it take a while), and now iPhoto wants to repair permissions OFTEN, not on demand after I found issues from a recent import from my wife.

I found an article on Aperture where this was caused by folder permissions.

Users/Shared me: Read & Write, staff: Read & Write, everyone: Read & Write

Users/Shared/Pictures me: Read & Write, staff: Read Only, everyone: no access

Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto Library me: Read & Write, staff: Read & Write, everyone: Read & Write

I am wondering if the Users/Shared/Pictures permissions should match the other two.

I am not a Unix expert, and am conservatice with changing file permssions unless I really understand what I am doing.

I suppose I could purchase a Firewire Drive and move the library to that as described in HT1198, but I have been doing this for 2 1/2 years without trouble until recently.

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Answer 3

Tom Fish

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2012 10:49 AM in response to Tom Fish

It may be too early to be confident, however I changed the permissions as follows: Note: the iPhoto Libray resides on iMac A.

old

iMac A: Users/Shared/Pictures me: Read & Write, staff: Read Only, everyone: no access

new

iMac A: Users/Shared/Pictures me: Read & Write, staff: Read & Write, everyone: Read & Write

I have successfully:

iMac A: Opened the iPhoto Library under my wife's account, then

iMac A: Opened the iPhoto Library under my account, then

iMac B: Opened the iPhoto Library under my account on another Mac on our network and made library modifications, then

iMac A: Opened the iPhoto Library under my wife's account.

In each case, iPhoto did not go into "examining the Library, nor did it need to repair permissions". The Library and iPhoto closed promptly without errors or inconsistencies.

I will keep my fingers crossed since it is hard to confidently trouble shoot without a higher level of understanding of Unix permissions and the details of the iPhoto Library.

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