Reset Permissions to Default?

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Level 1

141 points

Reset Permissions to Default?

Hi:

Any advice as to how to repair permissions on my Mac, i.e., set them all back to default, would be greatly appreciated.

Long story short, I have an OmniOutliner file that cannot be saved on the main user account due to permissions issues (when trying to save, one gets “The document “XXX” cannot be saved. You don’t have permission”). The good news is that is a consistent issue, happening every time one opens the file and tries to save it, whether or not one has modified the file. This behavior can be fixed by going to the to finder, selecting the folder that contains the OO file, invoking “Get Info”, and repairing permissions and applying to all within. This works until one closes the OO file and reopens it. Then the cycle starts all over again.

Interestingly, the OO file behaves properly when used within another user account on the same computer, so there is some specific interaction between the OO file and the main user account.

I’ve tried to fix the permissions by using Terminal> “sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /” The command runs fine but the permissions problem still persists.

I found another hint online about how to repair permissions here: http://dreamlight.com/how-to-fix-mac-os-x-file-permissions/

They recommend restarting the Mac in Recovery mode and using this Terminal command: resetpassword

I can get the “Reset Password” window to open, but the “Select volume containing a user account” window is blank, and the underlying “Select user account” window has No available users. So I cannot use the “Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs” button.

Can anyone suggest how to reset all of the permissions on my computer to default, for the computer, all user accounts, and all enclosing files and folders?

Thank you!

MPB 13-inch, early 2015 and El Cap OS 10.11.6

OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Dec 31, 2016 3:25 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,252 points

Jan 9, 2017 10:07 AM in response to CharPatton

Resolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder - Apple Support

Where is the file located? Within the user's home folder or somewhere else?

Was the file created by that user, or by another user?

Files created by another user are owned by that user and can only be edited by the user that created them.

I'm not certain exactly how you are creating and using the files, so I'm just trying to clarify some things.

The permission "repair" that you attempted does not affect a user's home folder. That command, like the Repair Permissions in previous versions of Disk Utility, only affects the system folders and files. It has no effect on the user space. The above link has methods to repair the user's home.

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Answer 2

CharPatton Author

Level 1

141 points

Jan 7, 2017 3:31 PM in response to CharPatton

PS The company is very good about support, but they are washing their hands of this one and saying it is Apple's issue. I know that computers are complex, but this seems to be the classic tech support strategy- shift the blame to another vendor 🙂

"Since we were able to move this file to a secondary user account and successfully work on it without encountering the same permission issues, at this point it's most likely the case that the issue doesn't lie within the file or the app, but rather a persistent permission issue related to the primary user account on the Mac."

They may be absolutely 110% correct, but it's a very big and important file that we can't just delete and start over with. We would REALLY appreciate any help from anyone, Apple or otherwise, regarding how to repair permissions once and for all.

As mentioned above, what is so weird is that:

This file works great on another user account
Repairing permissions of the enclosing folder and all contained items works like a charm each time, BUT one has to do this each and every time one opens the file.

Thank you!

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Answer 3

CharPatton Author

Level 1

141 points

Jan 9, 2017 10:07 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

The problem file resides on the Desktop of the Main User who created it. The weird thing is that it has problems there, but when transferred into another user account where it was never manipulated it works just fine.

The link you post looks very intriguing, as does the info about distinguishing system folders from user space. I will try this link next weekend and will post back.

Greatly appreciate your insight!

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