[Hamgard]

Last week the Applications Folder on my boot drive started preventing me copying from the desktop into it. I checked in Get Info about Permissions and they didn't seem correct so I changed them (in Get Info) but still no access for my files. I then checked Permissions on the drive and they, too, seemed incorrect so I altered them (in Get Info) to what I thought they needed to be and applied this to Enclosed Items. I've since discovered that this was a BAD thing. It jiggered my email to the point where I lost contact with my Thunderbird profiles and have mislaid my address book as well as received/sent emails!!


Is there any way to restore the position?

PLEASE...

[Spheric Harlot]

/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility


Repairs Permissions.

If it won't run because of messed-up permissions, search www.macupdate.com for "disk utility repair permissions" or so to find a little utility that will fix permissions on just Disk Utility such that it will run again.

-s*

[tooki]

Repair Permissions will not fix any program that was not installed using the Apple Installer -- it's the only installer (well, almost) that leaves behind the 'receipt' needed by Disk Utility to do the permissions repair.

So yes, by all means run it. But then just reinstall the apps that continue to not work right.

tooki

[Old Toad]

If you're not successful with the repairing of disk permissions, try booting into single user mode and run the File System Check (fsck). Here's how:
FSCK - File System Check

To start up in single-user mode
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the startup sound, press and hold both the Command (Apple) and "s" keys on your keyboard. The computer will display a series of text messages, at which time you may release these keys.

When the computer has started up, it will display a command line prompt (#). The computer is now in single-user mode.

How to Run the File System Check from the Command Line

Once you have reached a command line, follow these steps to use fsck:
1. At the prompt, type: fsck -y -f (NOTE, there is a space between the k and the “-” and the y and the next “-”)
2. Press Return.

The fsck utility will go through five "phases" and then return information about the disk's utilization and fragmentation. Once the check is finished, if no issue is found, you should see "** The volume <name of volume> appears to be OK."

If fsck alters, repairs, or fixes anything, it will display the message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

IMPORTANT: If this message appears, repeat the "fsck -y -f" command until this message no longer appears. It is not unusual for your computer to require several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional errors. Run it until you get two consecutive times with an "OK" result.

3. When fsck reports that no problems were found, type: reboot
4. Press Return.

When rebooted in your normal mode, run Disk Utility again and repair disk permissions.

Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.

[tooki]

There's absolutely nothing indicating the need to run fsck. He b0rked his permissions and now needs to fix them. That's not disk corruption.

tooki

[Hamgard]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility


Repairs Permissions.

If it won't run because of messed-up permissions, search www.macupdate.com for "disk utility repair permissions" or so to find a little utility that will fix permissions on just Disk Utility such that it will run again.

-s*

Checked and reported no problems.

Thanks for the advice.

[Hamgard]

Are there any rules, guidelines, good practice about Permissions?

I am the only person using this machine and there is no network involved. I have my 120Gb hd divided into three partitions - one with all my primary data, system, applications, users, etc.

There are two external FW drives for back-ups and archives.

What would you expect Permissions to be?

Thanks

Peter

[tooki]

Sorry, but listing the permissions of the thousands of items in the Applications folder (because most of the apps are folders, too, with contents that also need correct permissions) is well in excess of anything I'm willing to do, not to mention that it would take you vastly longer to manually fix the permissions on each file than it would to just reinstall it all. There is no one answer -- different apps require different permissions on different files.

So just bite the bullet, reinstall it all, and then don't monkey with the permissions again if you don't know what you're doing!

tooki

[Hamgard]

Originally posted by tooki:
So just bite the bullet, reinstall it all, and then don't monkey with the permissions again if you don't know what you're doing!

tooki

You're right. I'll settle down for a long night.

Cheers

Peter