Permissions on external hard drive

Question

Level 1

8 points

Permissions on external hard drive

I have thousands of photos taken over the years on an external hard drive. The drive as been set up correctly i.e.fat32 but when I changed to

a new Imac some time ago I lost permissions on some of the files. I can not go through them one at a time to change permissions because

there are to many files. Is there a way or in deed is there any software available to change the permissions automatically because at the

moment I can no longer back them up or alter the photos because of the lack of permissions. I hope this is clear. Many thanks.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 30, 2015 3:31 AM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,518 points

Aug 30, 2015 7:11 AM in response to Kassiopi

FAT32 doesn't have permissions.

Get Info on the drive and look at the bottom for Ignore ownership on this volume. If it is available, check that box and see if it works ok. You will have to click the padlock and authenticate in order to check that box. I'm not sure that will be available, though.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Aug 30, 2015 9:31 AM in response to Kassiopi

If you stored an iPhoto or Photos library on a FAT volume, the library is corrupt. Otherwise, please describe exactly what happens when you try to access the problem files.

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Answer 3

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2015 1:15 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc Davis

The photos are not stored through iphoto or Photos but are stored in folders through Adobe lightroom.

There are thousands of photos. Maybe 30,000 to 50,000 and thousands of folders. What happens when I try

to alter old images is that the computer tells me I have insufficient permissions to carry out this type of action. I

also can not back them up using chronosync for the same reasons. All this happened when I changed computers.

I should have sorted it out a long time ago I'm afraid. I don't know of any solution, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Aug 30, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Kassiopi

Please copy one of the files to the Desktop in the Finder, if possible, and try to edit it there.

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Answer 5

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 1, 2015 1:55 AM in response to Kassiopi

Thanks for all the answers but I'm afraid I need a better solution because of the number of files. I will try a copy onto another

drive to see if that improves things at all. Again thanks for the help.

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Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Sep 1, 2015 12:20 PM in response to Kassiopi

Try selecting a folder, then do a Get Info and set the permissions correctly, Then go to the gear at the bottom and select Apply to enclosed items.

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Answer 7

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 2, 2015 2:10 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks again for all the replies. The problem with selecting a single folder is that there are thousands of folders some have permissions

some do not. It would take a few years to go through them all one at a time I'm afraid. What I need is a piece of software to sort

them all out but where can I find software that will do this?

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Answer 8

Sep 2, 2015 3:36 AM in response to Kassiopi

OS X files can have Unix permissions as well as ACL (Access Control Lists) plus they can also be locked via the Finder and files can have special attributes as well. Not all of these settings are adjustable in the GUI Finder. The OS X command line will give you the power to apply permissions over all the files and folders at once if necessary. It would still take some time to recursively adjust permissions across that many files. However FAT32 is not supposed to have permissions. The questions presented to you are attempting to collect more detail so we can understand the root cause of the problem. Please try copying a file or folder that has permission trouble to the desktop and see if that works. We do not expect you to do that for all the files/folders. We are trying to find out if that works or not. Are you allowed to copy a problem file to the desktop and edit it with Lightroom? Let us know the results after you try it.

Just trying to understand your problem. I am sure we will have more questions. Linc is extremely skilled and knowledgeable. If I have time today I'll prep a FAT32 drive and see if I can set any permissions, ACL or attributes that could cause your problem.

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Sep 2, 2015 7:27 AM in response to Kassiopi

I need a better solution because of the number of files.

I haven't suggested a solution. I suggested a test: copy just one file to the Desktop and try to edit it.

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Answer 10

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 2, 2015 10:10 AM in response to Kassiopi

Thanks Linc Davis. I'm afraid you'll have to bear with me. My knowledge of computers is about somewhat less than

zero. I have looked at the files in lightroom with the "get info" tab after highlighting them on the harddrive and the problem is that some files are "read only" and can not be altered or backed up. Why they are is beyond me. The problem with lightroom is you may have one folder but inside that folder lies more folders some have become read only and some have not. Hope I'm explaining myself.

Thanks again for any help

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Answer 11

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Sep 2, 2015 11:43 AM in response to Kassiopi

None of that should prevent you from carrying out the test I suggested.

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Answer 12

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 3, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Kassiopi

Hi The test you suggest can not be carried out. The photographs which are in the raw format can only be worked upon

within the confines of the Adobe lightroom software. I can export photographs to anywhere I like in the computer but

they are copies of the original. If I move a folder from within Lightroom without using Lightroom then things go haywire pretty quickly.

I can copy a file to the desktop but without the lightroom software I can do nothing with the photographs whithin the folder. I can

save the individual files to other folders and I can delete the copies but I can not delete the original files which still reside within the bounds of Lightroom.

Hope this helps

Regards

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Answer 13

Sep 3, 2015 7:53 PM in response to Kassiopi

Have you tried the Adobe Lightroom forums?

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Answer 14

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,518 points

Sep 3, 2015 9:01 PM in response to Kassiopi

Kassiopi wrote:

Hi The test you suggest can not be carried out. The photographs which are in the raw format can only be worked upon

within the confines of the Adobe lightroom software.

And now, the rest of the story…

As James Brickley points out, it may be a Lightroom issue.

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Answer 15

Kassiopi Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 4, 2015 2:09 AM in response to Kassiopi

Thanks guys for all the info and help. This issue arose sometime ago when I change my old mac for a new one and

went through the copy to new computer set up on the new mac.

Yes I have tried Adobe forums and they suggested I try here. lol.

Well, onwards and upwards as they say. Cheers and thanks again.

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