Repairing permissions options?

You may want to try one of the nifty little utilities that do this
chore and others,
automatically: I like macaroni from atomicbird.com, for its simplicity,
but it costs a bout $9. Others, like cocktail, macjanitor or onyx,
check for these types of utilities at versiontracker.com
Cali
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

In article ,
aaJoe wrote:

> This seems to be an ongoing chore in OS X. So be it. Small price to
> pay. Are there any advantages (besides convenience) in repairing
> permissions while OS X is running or is it always better to do it from
> the DVD before OS X boots up?

Repair Permissions is the "rebuild desktop" of OS X. Everyone says to do
it to fix a wide variety of problems; and actually, it does nothing of
the sort.
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

I also have an Emac with 768MB of RAM. It has frozen only one time in
a year and a half. I find OS X to be very stable and practically
trouble free. I do have some complaints with Safari and Mail, but
there a other alternatives. I also repair permissions only after
running instals or updates, or when an application that has been
working fine suddenly starts acting strangely. All in all, I love
crowing about OS X to Windows users... And repairing permissions sure
beats rebuilding desktops. Nothing is perfect, but I have to say that
I'm very happy with my 5th Macintosh!!!
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

Király wrote:
> aaJoe wrote:
>> So is the consensus that Repair Permissions has no point at all? This
>> is amazing since most Mac users recommend it so often. Even
>> www.macosx.com does and they're supposed to be quite experienced. Or is
>> it only useful when and only when its used in conjunction with other
>> vital repair/maintenance apps?
>
> "Repairing permissions" is often thrown out there as a magic fix for any
> kind of trouble one may have on their Mac. I've even heard people
> recommending it for things like strange mouse behaviour. Permissions rarely
> get messed up to the point that they need repairing.
>
> But repairing permissions IS useful for certain things. Somebody posted
> in this NG recently that CD-Rs would mount on his Mac in admin accounts
> but not in non-admin accounts. That sounded like a permissions issue, so
> I suggested that he repair permissions. It worked.
>
Repairing perms fixes a highly specific set of problems. It should
certainly not be a scheduled event. However, it does little harm, other
than possibly "fixing" stuff that tweakers may wish it didn't (does it
still break a running Postfix server?)

I ran into a problem with the dev tools ("missing" header files
[actually: missing softlinks to header files] on compile) that was fixed
by running repair permissions. This was the only time I ever saw a
direct solution to a specific problem. Ironically, repairing
permissions was the last thing I tried in this case, as it seemed so
unrelated. In hindsight it makes perfect sense why it did solve the
problem. But there you go. I ran it and saw a pile of references to bad
perms on whole directories of frameworks, which I'd never seen before
(i.e., not the usual spurious messages about man pages being wrong or
whatever).

I still don't know how the dev tools got so FUBAR in the first place.

I guess I'm suggesting that it is so often offered as a solution to many
problems since the action itself is sort of a black box, and it is not
immediately certain what it might correct in some edge cases. Coupled
with the fact that it is usually harmless and feels like we are doing
some direct action to fix a problem, I can see why it is such common advice.

It doesn't help that Apple has posted a support doc that recommends
regular runs of the utility now.
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

> I also have an Emac with 768MB of RAM. It has frozen only one time in
> a year and a half. I find OS X to be very stable and practically
> trouble free. I do have some complaints with Safari and Mail, but
> there a other alternatives. I also repair permissions only after
> running instals or updates, or when an application that has been
> working fine suddenly starts acting strangely. All in all, I love
> crowing about OS X to Windows users... And repairing permissions sure
> beats rebuilding desktops. Nothing is perfect, but I have to say that
> I'm very happy with my 5th Macintosh!!!

Mail give me no problems. Occasionally Opera freezes but it is rare.
The main culprits for me are Toast, DVD Player when the playing service
has problems and Finder - though Finder's lock up isn't often
fortunately.
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

aaJoe wrote:
> Is there a short Terminal program or keyboard shortcut for repairing
> permissions? Or do I have to use the Disk Utility. I'm going to be
> setting up a new system soon and will want to run it frequently as
> things get moved around.

from Terminal, the permission repair can be run by typing:

sudo diskutil repairpermissions /

Some utilities like Cocktail can be set up to run the permission repair
automatically on a regular basis. You can also put in a cron job to do
this if you know how to do it.

--
K.

Te tetted e tettetett tettet? Te tettetett tettek tettese, te!
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

> > Is there a short Terminal program or keyboard shortcut for repairing
> > permissions? Or do I have to use the Disk Utility. I'm going to be
> > setting up a new system soon and will want to run it frequently as
> > things get moved around.
>
> from Terminal, the permission repair can be run by typing:
> sudo diskutil repairpermissions /

Am I missing something? This is what happened:

Started verify/repair permissions on disk disk0s3 `0S X
Determining correct file permissions.
parent directory ./Users/Shared/SC Info does not exist

Did I delete something by accident?
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

In article ,
aaJoe wrote:

> > > So is the consensus that Repair Permissions has no point at all? This
> > > is amazing since most Mac users recommend it so often. Even
> > > www.macosx.com does and they're supposed to be quite experienced. Or is
> > > it only useful when and only when its used in conjunction with other
> > > vital repair/maintenance apps?

Yes permissions repair is useful. If the problem involves permissions.
It is indeed treated like Desktop Rebuild or PRAM zap, ie. A cure all.
It is something that, in most cases, won't hurt to try it.

The most common problem that permissions repair fixes is the results of
poorly written installers. Some developers seem to have no clue about
permissions.

I have encountered several problems which on the surface didn't seem
like they would be a permissions issue but that a repair did fix.
Correct permissions are critical in OS X and incorrect permissions can
foul programs in the oddest way. One reason I believe is that a lot of
programs don't do adequate error handling, often they just ignore
problems if they can. So if a program can't read or write a file
because of incorrect permissions they will just ignore it. This applies
to things like plug-ins, sounds, help files, any thing that is part of a
program (Built in or an external add on file) but not absolutely
essential.

Personally I've long felt that the restart that is inherent in Desktop
Rebuild or PRAM zap was usually the fix. But since people did a Desktop
Rebuild or PRAM zap they attributed the fix to that action instead of
the restart.

> >
> > "Repairing permissions" is often thrown out there as a magic fix for any
> > kind of trouble one may have on their Mac. I've even heard people
> > recommending it for things like strange mouse behaviour. Permissions
> > rarely
> > get messed up to the point that they need repairing.



> >
> > But repairing permissions IS useful for certain things. Somebody posted
> > in this NG recently that CD-Rs would mount on his Mac in admin accounts
> > but not in non-admin accounts. That sounded like a permissions issue, so
> > I suggested that he repair permissions. It worked.

True, problems that disappear when done in an admin account are often
permissions problems. But Disk Utility's Permission Repair won't always
fix them.
> >
> > I run the permission repair after running any software installer.
> > Software installers are notorious for messing them up and in some cases
> > can open up big security holes. I had one software installer recently
> > change the permissions on /Applications and /Library to make them
> > writable by non-administrators. Bad, bad, bad developer. Running the
> > permission repair fixed it.
>
> Is there a short Terminal program or keyboard shortcut for repairing
> permissions? Or do I have to use the Disk Utility. I'm going to be
> setting up a new system soon and will want to run it frequently as
> things get moved around.

sudo diskutil repairPermissions /

See the man page for details.

>
> > So running the permission repair is not nonsense. But what IS nonsense
> > is the myriad of problems that people think will be fixed by running it.
> > Running it will not harm anything, it will just take a few seconds of
> > your time.
> >
> > I disagree with the previous poster who claimed that running the
> > permission repair as a regular maintenance task is akin to taking
> > antibiotics when one is not sick. That's nonsense. Taking antibiotics
> > when not sick is a bad, bad idea and it can harm you. Repairing
> > permissions will not harm anything. All it is is a waste of time if it
> > doesn't fix anything.
>

I agree with that except that in a few rare cases running Permissions
Repair may indeed cause a problem but that is really a problem with the
Receipts file. It's fixing things the way it was told to but those
instructions may be wrong.

--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

In article
,
fishfry wrote:

> In article ,
> aaJoe wrote:
>
> > This seems to be an ongoing chore in OS X. So be it. Small price to
> > pay. Are there any advantages (besides convenience) in repairing
> > permissions while OS X is running or is it always better to do it from
> > the DVD before OS X boots up?

Only do it from the installer disk (or any disk other than the boot disk
you are intending to repair) if you can't get it to boot and run Disk
Utility.

In the Library folder there is a folder called "Receipts" that contains
Receipt files from installers. These files (including those from the
original OS install and subsequent updates) provide Disk Utility with
the information on how to repair the permissions. If you boot from the
installer it doesn't use those files and only applies the files found on
the installer disk.

If you do have to use the installer disk then when you get your system
working again run Permissions Repair from the hard disk to set them
right again.

--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

aaJoe wrote:
> Am I missing something? This is what happened:
>
> Started verify/repair permissions on disk disk0s3 `0S X
> Determining correct file permissions.
> parent directory ./Users/Shared/SC Info does not exist
>
> Did I delete something by accident?

I see the same thing when I try it. I think it's normal. diskutil went
on to adjust the permissions on secure.log, so it seems to be working
even though it brings back that message.


--
K.

Te tetted e tettetett tettet? Te tettetett tettek tettese, te!
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

In article ,
Clark Martin wrote:

> The most common problem that permissions repair fixes is the results of
> poorly written installers. Some developers seem to have no clue about
> permissions.


And yet it's expected that average users know all the ins & outs of
permissions....
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

In article ,
mike.DeleteThis@POSTTOGROUP.invalid (Mike Rosenberg) wrote:

> Madwen wrote:
>
> > And yet it's expected that average users know all the ins & outs of
> > permissions....
>
> Expected by whom?

It's anticipated by those who write the "Help" files for OS X. Those
Help files give the Unix-ignorant user insufficient information to be
able to know, always, if they are having a
permissions/security/multi-user problem, why they are having the
problem, and what to do about a full range of permissions problems.
So, since permission problems are fairly ubiquitous and users often
seek help here that is not addressed in the Help files, it is apparent
that Apple thinks either (1) the user should have obtained such
information elsewhere; or, (2) that the knowledge is unnecessary. It is
a common pedagogical error.

In most instances, Mac users need not know what's going on underneath
the hood, so to speak, to use their computers. But, in the case of
permissions, that is not the case. Users need better and more
accessible information with the OS to be able to better comprehend the
whole multi-user, security and permissions paradigm. The "bag of
tricks" technique (run Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, reset the PRAM, etc)
is simply inadequate where permissions are concerned.
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options? 

> > The most common problem that permissions repair fixes is the results of
> > poorly written installers. Some developers seem to have no clue about
> > permissions.
>
> And yet it's expected that average users know all the ins & outs of
> permissions....

You'd think that if they recommend it, they'd build something in Disk
Utility so you can set it to run regularly.
 >> Stay informed about: Repairing permissions options?