[USNA91]

I've read a lot about "standard system maintenance", but never in one place or in a way that made sense. I was hoping someone might help out the newbies here (like me).

What constitutes adequate "system maintenance", and how often should it be done? I'm interested in keeping my system as reliable as possible, as fast as possible, and as LEAN as possible (I already got rid of the never-used screen savers and wallpapers, for example).

Also, if someone could please explain what a permission is, why it's important, why we need to repair them, and why they become un-repaired in the first place, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

[TETENAL]

You don't have to do anything as "standard system maintenance". The system is automatically archiving some log files at Saturday night, but if it isn't done (for example because the computer is off at that time) that's nothing tragic.

Permissions are properties of files and folders that determine who can read, write to/delete such files and folders (see Finder->File->Get Info). They are mainly there because Unix is designed as a multi-user system and not every user should have access to every file. No user can write/delete in the System folder on Mac OS X for example, so you can't accidently mess up your system. Sometimes third party installers screw with the permissions, so you have the chance to "repair" them. If you don't have any problems it's not necessary to do that. It's certainly not necessary to repair permissions on a regular basis.

[Millennium]

As Tetenal said, "standard system maintenance" is the collective name of a set of tasks which OSX runs on a regular basis to help keep things going. There are sets of tasks which it runs daily, weekly, and monthly, but in any case it always runs them late at night, under the assumption that you won't be using the computer then so they won't get in your way.

Of course, if you turn the computer off at night, this is a problem, because those tasks don't get run. There are many ways to deal with this, but my personal favorite is a Unix utility called anacron. It has no GUI, but it doesn't need one; you just install it and forget it. It will take care of any tasks which don't get run at their normal time for whatever reason. The one disadvantage is that if you do this, those tasks might be run at the same time you're trying to do stuff. This is not harmful, but it can slow the system down a bit until the tasks are done.

As for permissions, there are ways to automate the repair process so that it will be done automatically as part of the standard maintenance; many people (myself included) are left wondering why Apple hasn't just done this by default already. I'll see if I can find one of the threads about it. It involves a line or two of code that you have to paste into the Terminal, but it only has to be done once; it's another install-and-forget sort of thing.

[USNA91]

Cool! I look forward to seeing that.

What about the items run by DiskWarrior? Is the program worth it?

[ListerMint]

Read this article. See if it helps

[alphasubzero949]

This is just my opinion. YMMV.

http://homepage.mac.com/jpalmeda/ibl...123/index.html

Generally, you shouldn't have to do any maintenance, but checking out the programs I mentioned should be of some help.

[RobOnTheCape]

I tried to use the disk utility and it asked for my admin name and password. I gave what I think is the correct pass, and I then got "Repairing permissions for "Macintosh HD" in black, and then "Error: No valid packages (-9997) in red after it.

What does this mean?

Thanks

[Anubis IV]

By any chance did you throw out the files in the Receipts folder? Not sure if that's what would cause that error, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

[RobOnTheCape]

as a matter of fact...

I believe I did a few weeks back. Any suggestions?

Good call by the way

[Anubis IV]

Well, I can tell you what it means (at least, as best as I know), but I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions.

More or less, whenever you use an installer to install an application on your Mac, a "receipt" of the .pkg file is left in the Receipts folder (there are also some receipts in there from when you installed your System and the bundled apps). What those receipts are used for is repairing permissions. In order to determine what the proper permissions are for the various applications and the like, Disk Utility takes a look at all of those receipts and reads through them to find out what the permissions should be set to and then changes them to match that. Without those receipts, your Disk Utility has no idea what the permissions should be set to, so it's entirely unable to repair the permissions.

Anyway, that "no valid packages" error that you're getting is just to let you know that it doesn't detect any packages receipts in the Receipts folder, so it's clueless. As for how to solve the problem though...I'm afraid I have no idea. Hopefully one of the Mac geniuses can step in and save the day though.

[USNA91]

Originally posted by Anubis IV:
More or less, whenever you use an installer to install an application on your Mac, a "receipt" of the .pkg file is left in the Receipts folder (there are also some receipts in there from when you installed your System and the bundled apps). What those receipts are used for is repairing permissions. In order to determine what the proper permissions are for the various applications and the like, Disk Utility takes a look at all of those receipts and reads through them to find out what the permissions should be set to and then changes them to match that. Without those receipts, your Disk Utility has no idea what the permissions should be set to, so it's entirely unable to repair the permissions.

I was wondering how the heck that worked!

[RobOnTheCape]

I guess I'll just wait for 10.4 and do a clean install.