Items can't be copied because you don't have permission to read them

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Level 1

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Items can't be copied because you don't have permission to read them

I have a Lacie Rikiki external hard drive connected as a NAS on my Netgear DGND3700 router. I am able to copy from the hard drive to my MacBook but not the other way round.

When I try to copy to the hard drive I get the message "one or more items can't be copied to (folder on LaCie) because you don't have permission to read them. Do you want to copy the items you are allowed to read?" There are "Stop" & "Continue" buttons. Nothing happens regardless of which button I click.

I have disconnected the drive from the network and connected it via USB to my MacBook and checked the Info window to look under "Shared" and untick the "Ignore Permissions on this Drive" box. But there are no options under Sharing and Permissions. It just says "You can read and write" as shown below.

I have reformatted the drive and this has not had any effect and the issue remains that same.

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on May 17, 2015 9:46 AM

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Answer 1

Klaus1

Level 9

52,759 points

May 17, 2015 10:59 AM in response to derekgray

Check the permissions of the files you are trying to copy.

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Answer 2

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

May 17, 2015 11:09 AM in response to Klaus1

Consider using an app that can escalate to get read access to the required…

Carbon Copy Cloner http://bombich.com/

SuperDuper! & Chronosync can also use admin level access if you have those credentials. It means your source can be left with no changes to the permissions.

Terminal has other ways to copy with higher access levels.

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Answer 3

derekgray Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2015 11:32 AM in response to Klaus1

I have the full read and write permissions for the files I am copying. I even set the staff and everyone settings to Read and Write just in case. Still no joy

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Answer 4

derekgray Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Drew Reece

I have just tried Carbon Copy Cloner. No luck, unfortunately.

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Answer 5

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

May 17, 2015 1:22 PM in response to derekgray

How did you try to clone with CCC? Did you mount the disk via USB or did you mount it via the NAS? You were inside an admin account?

The NAS will have it's own sharing permissions that are controlled in it's own software, that may cause issues that don't occur when the disk is mounted via USB.

I wonder if the issue is that you have folders within the destination disk that cannot be read, if you are merging many files & folders you will need to have read & write access to all items. Have you tried copying subset of the files into a new folder on the disk?

Sorry the 'read error' suggests the issue is in the source, which should allow CCC to read those items with admin access, very odd.

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Answer 6

derekgray Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2015 2:10 PM in response to Drew Reece

I used my account to logon (this is an admin account). The disk was mounted via NAS. I can copy no problem when connected via USB and can transfer files to the disk. The NAS sharing permissions are set to allow all with no passwords

I am using the disc as music storage at the moment to provide music for my Sonos system and would like to copy the music from my MacBook without having to connect the disk via USB when I get new music. I would like to have it also containing movies etc and use it as a media storage.

I have tried creating a new folder on the disk when it is connected via NAS and I get the error message "The operation can't be completed because you don't have the necessary permission"

I am able to copy from the disk to my MacBook and the Sonos can read from it. When I add new music and update the Sonos music library it updates OK.

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