External harddrive limited to 'read only'

I have a hard drive that is set to 'read only' and is formatted as NTFS. How can I change this so that I can save files to the disk, without reformattin and losing everything on the drive?

Best is to connect that external to a Windows PC, Copy all the files off it then format it either FAT32 or exFAT on the Windows PC. That way both Windows and OS X can write and read from it.
3rd party software will work but can be problematic.

Similar Messages

HT4796 why are all the files on my external harddrive showing as read only?

I have a harddrive (Seagate) that I have used with my PC to store files. When I plug it into my Mac, all the files are read only. How do I fix that?

Most likely, the drive is formatted NTFS, which OS X can only read natively.
If you don't want to reformat the disk into something you can use on both, try exFAT.
If you want to reformat it only for a Mac, use Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Either way you'd have to move the files off the drive, format, then reload them
There are several programs which will allow you to write to NTFS, Paragon, Tuxera, and NTFS-3G (free).

Limitations of read-only JE Environments

Hello all,
I realized recently that our documentation on the limitations of read-only Environments is lacking. So for the next JE release I updated the javadoc for EnvironmentConfig.setReadOnly. The new text is pasted below. If you're using, or thinking of using, a read-only environment, be sure to take a look. I apologize for the lack of documentation in the current release, especially if you've used a read-only environment without understanding these limitations and this has caused problems for you.
--mark
setReadOnly
public EnvironmentConfig setReadOnly(boolean readOnly)
Configures the database environment to be read-only, and any attempt to modify a database will fail.
A read-only environment has several limitations and is recommended only in special circumstances. Note that there is no performance advantage to opening an environment read-only.
The primary reason for opening an environment read-only is to open a single environment in multiple JVM processes. Only one JVM process at a time may open the environment read-write. See EnvironmentLockedException.
When the environment is open read-only, the following limitations apply.
. In the read-only environment no writes may be performed, as expected, and databases must be opened read-only using DatabaseConfig.setReadOnly(boolean).
. The read-only environment receives a snapshot of the data that is effectively frozen at the time the environment is opened. If the application has the environment open read-write in another JVM process and modifies the environment's databases in any way, the read-only version of the data will not be updated until the read-only JVM process closes and reopens the environment (and by extension all databases in that environment).
. If the read-only environment is opened while the environment is in use by another JVM process in read-write mode, opening the environment read-only (recovery) is likely to take longer than it does after a clean shutdown. This is due to the fact that the read-write JVM process is writing and checkpoints are occurring that are not coordinated with the read-only JVM process. The effect is similar to opening an environment after a crash.
. In a read-only environment, the JE cache will contain information that cannot be evicted because it was reconstructed by recovery and cannot be flushed to disk. This means that the read-only environment may not be suitable for operations that use large amounts of memory, and poor performance may result if this is attempted.
. In a read-write environment, the log cleaner will be prohibited from deleting log files for as long as the environment is open read-only in another JVM process. This may cause disk usage to rise, and for this reason it is not recommended that an environment is kept open read-only in this manner for long periods.
For these reasons, it is recommended that a read-only environment be used only for short periods and for operations that are not performance critical or memory intensive. With few exceptions, all application functions that require access to a JE environment should be built into a single application so that they can be performed in the JVM process where the environment is open read-write.
In most applications, opening an environment read-only can and should be avoided.
-----

You've asked an interesting question! I'm afraid that the answer is that it's not possible in BDB JE today.
What you'd really like for your second case is part of the type of functionality provided by MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control). In case you're not familiar with that term, MVCC is the database feature which guarantees that all reads made in a transaction will see a consistent snapshot of the database and that the transaction will successfully commit only if no updates it has made conflict with any concurrent updates made since that snapshot. Unfortunately, while our sister product, BDB (C) has that feature, we do not yet support it.
I think your alternatives are to do achieve your point in time snapshot from the file copy based backup, from the second process, or from an application level mechanism that locks out other updates.
Regards,
Linda

External Hard Drive Becomes Read Only

I have a LaCie Hard Drive that Time Machine has been backing up to for about 4 days now. All of a sudden, the external hard drive is read only. When I go into Get Info for the hard drive, I can't even change the read/write permissions - it's all grayed out. This is the second time it's happened. The first time was on a Western Digital MyBook. TM fried that drive. At least this drive hasn't disappeared like the last time.
I've now changed the Time Machine backup to my second hard drive on my Mac Pro (which is screaming along, as opposed to the FW800 [!!] backup on my La Cie, whose file transfers are slo-o-o-w).
The idea behind backing up onto the external was so that if I ever needed to leave during a fire or earthquake, I could bring this with me and not worry if my computer was destroyed. Insurance would replace the computer, and I could replace my system.
If it weren't formatted properly, it wouldn't have been backing up for the last few days.
Can anyone help?
Message was edited by: Theresa Mesa

Thank you to everyone who has posted about this issue -- it just happened to me AGAIN this morning (this is my 3rd time), after I installed the 10.5.2 update. The first two times were right after I hooked up my external Iomega 500GB drive to use with Time Machine and I thought it was something I was doing. Then it seemed to work fine for a couple months so I thought the problem was over. Guess not! It is frustrating because I just lost about 2 months worth of backups. So finally I searched Apple's discussion forums and saw that I am not alone. However, no one was really posting a solution other than to say "reformat the drive".
So I did a Google search about this topic and encountered the following article. I have just gone through the steps he outlines and although I won't know for awhile if it works, I figure at this point it can't hurt to try. I hope this proves useful to others as well. (One note -- in his article, he says to skip the Erase tab and go right to the Partition tab. If you don't see the Partition tab, first erase your corrupt Time Machine backup disk and then follow his steps.)
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/leopard-disk-utility-format-issue-screws-with-t ime-machine-but-theres-an-easy-fix-316573.php
Cheers ~
Message was edited by: sneebish

External hard disc is read only on my MacBook air and I can't safe and export files on it, how can I change that

My external hard drive is read only on my MacBook air and I cand safe or export files to it. How can I change this so I can use the external hard drive to export my files and work on an other pc.

Eject and disconnect the drive (and its power supply, if it has a separate one) for a few moments, then restart it. Restart your Mac, then reconnect the drive.
If that doesn't help, the directory structure may be damaged. See if you can Repair it, per #6 in Using Disk Utility.

Getting my External HD out of "Read-Only" permission...

Ok, I just recently purchased my Mac used from my school, and because it has a marginally small Harddrive, I purchased an external drive to suppliment. But, after installing the device drivers, the HardDrive claims to be "Read Only" meaning that I can't store anything on it, defeating the purpose...Can anyone help me figure out how to change my permission settings on the Hard Drive so that I can use it? Thanks.
eMac Mac OS X (10.3.9) External Hard Drive

Select the disk in the Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu; next, check the disk's format.
If the disk's format is Windows NT Filesystem, use the Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder to erase the disk.
If the disk's format is MS-DOS, FAT32, or Mac OS Standard, look on the drive for a physical switch which might control the ability to write to the disk.
If the disk's format is UNIX File System or any Mac OS Extended variant, change the permissions in the Ownership & Permissions section of the Get Info window so you can write to the drive.
(16442)

Time Machine once worked, now external hard drive is "read only"

I have a 2005 iMac G5, running OS X 10.5. Had some power issues, and reinstalled (and archived) my OS a couple of time.
Recently purchased Western Digital 1TB external hard drive for back up. It worked once or twice, but now shows "read only" status.
Disk Utility won't do anything, because it's read only (can't repair, erase, partition or convert).
Hard drive works on PC running Windows 7, and newer Mac with Snow Leopard, just not the one computer I need it for. Any suggestions?

This may help:
What to do if Time Machine reports you don't have permission
This was posted in the Apple Discussions by V.K. I have only modified it slightly to be more generic.
The problem seems to be that 10.5.6 changes permissions on a file so that even the root user doesn't have write peivileges. I have no idea why they did this. The workaround suggested in [an]other post will probably work, too, but i did something less drastic. Instead of deleting the file I changed permissions on it, and it worked just fine. An added benefit is that the permission change seems to stick, so you don't have to delete the file every time you change a drive.
[Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt [enter] the following command:
sudo chmod 644 /volumes/"TM drive name"/.xxxxxxxxxxxx
The name of the file .xxxxxxxxxxxx is based on the MAC address of your computer and will be different for every computer. Put the name of the TM drive in the above and keep the quotes.
You'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see) which is normal.
This was edited by Kappy just for cleanup.
Enable Finder to Show Invisible Files and Folders
Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following command line then press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
To turn off the display of invisible files and folders enter or paste the following command line and press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Alternatively you can use one of the numerous third-party utilities such as TinkerTool or ShowHideInvisibleFiles - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Also visit the User Tips found at the top of this forum's Topics list: Time Machine User Tips.

My external hard drive is read only

Hey guys,
I'm just transferring stuff from a windows pc and i had all my music on my external hard drive. Well i set my default iTunes folder back to my external on my new mac but my hard drive is read only so it won't let me download anything after i buy it. How can i change it from read only?
Thanks

If the external drive is formatted NTFS, OSX can read but not write to it.
MacFUSE is supposed to add NTFS write support to OSX
<http://julipedia.blogspot.com/2007/03/ntfs-readwrite-support-for-mac-os-x.html> , but it may be safer to copy the data from the drive, the re-format it to Mac Extended (or FAT32 if you still want to use in on Windows). Re-formatting will erase the disk, so save the data first.

I need a step-by-step plan: my WD external hard drive is 'read only'

Hi,
I hope someone can help me, because i'm in quite a pickle. I bought a WD 500 GB external hard drive a couple of months ago. I have a MacBook Pro version OS X 10.8.5. The problem I have now is that I haven't used my external hard drive for a couple of weeks now, until today (note: I bought this hard drive and used it for the first time on my macbook pro, never on windows before or any other laptop/pc), and all of a sudden I can only 'read' my hard drive, it suddenly seemed to have changed it settings by itself to 'you can read only' whilst I never did anything to the permission settings....
So i read a couple of questions about this online, and apparently im not the only one with this problem. but all the answers i read are way too complicated for me, with too much computer jargon. Therefore i just need a simple step-by-step answer, whatever i need to install or 'configure' in order to make this thing work again!!
Please can somebody help me??? I never used this thing for more than a month and only my macbook pro....help!! It cant be that i used this hard drive once and then all of a sudden it changes it's settings??
Thanks,
Daphne

If you can see the hard drive in Finder, select it, do a Get Info (command - I) and see what permissions you have in Sharing and Permissions. It should be Read/Write. If it isn't, unlock the padlock, and change it. Then look towards the top to see how the drive is formatted. It normally should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
If it is not that format, go to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. Open Disk Utility select the drive, select the erase partition, and after making sure the correct format is set, erase the drive. At the bottom the current format is shown. This will remove anything that was on the drive.

External drive changed to read-only

I have a Western Digital external drive that I use for Time Capsule and Super Duper! This morning, when I wanted to start work, Time Capsule said that my drive "appears to be a read-only drive," and Super Duper had failed its overnight backup.
I used BatChMod, and changed the permissions.
When I opened a finder window for the external, it still showed the read-only icon in the lower left hand corner of the window.
The Get Info window shows System as the owner, Admin as the group, with all permissions. EVERYONE has read-only permission.
When I look at the disk in Disk Utility, Repair Disk Permissions is greyed out.
What would change the disk's status, and how can I fix this?
Thanks,
Nicky

Most likely, your backups were corrupted, beyond Disk Utility's ability to repair them. It's possible a 3rd party disk repair app, such as +Disk Warrior,+ could have fixed them, but it's too late now.
Does the drive have two partitions, one for Time Machine backups, and a second for SuperDuper? If so, erase the Time Machine partition and let TM start over.
If not, that's a problem (see #3 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum). Your best bet is to reformat the disk with two partitions. See #5 in the FAQ for detailed instructions. Then start both Time Machine and SuperDuper over fresh.
Longer-term, having both backups on the same physical drive is not good; if the drive fails, you risk losing both of them.

External Hard Drive is read only?? how do i change this?

ive just gotten a new external hard drive which i use a giant usb pretty much,
only problem is when i drag files into it to copy it tells me that "untitled" cant be modified.. also when i check its info im told that it is read only... how do figure out how to change this...
i need help please

Hi jami01
You need to reformat your new external drive in Disk Utility. Currently it will be formatted as NTFS which is a windows format and the Mac can read that but not write to it, hence your problems.
If you wish to use it solely with your Mac and not share it with a PC, then then choose the HFS+ format
Open Disk Utility,
-Select the external disk in the left panel. make sure you have selected the correct disk.
-Click the Erase tab
-Give the disk a name
-Select the Volume Format type to be HFS+
-Click Erase
If you wish to share it with a PC then Choose MS-DOS(FAT32) format
regards roam

External hard drive becomes "read only" and won't let Time Machine back up

I have an external hard drive for back up, and it has been working fine until recently.
There is a version of 10.6.6 loaded on it also.
The back up will fail every few days. When I do some checking, the back up drive is "read only" but I am not able to switch it to read/write. I cannot repair it with Disk Utility as the repair buttons are grayed out.
I can run DiskWarrior and it will fix it, but it runs super slow and takes all the memory to do it. I can barely use my e mail while it's running.
Anyone know what's going on?

System log says:
3/27/11 8:01:19 AM com.apple.backupd-auto[1559] Not starting scheduled Time Machine backup - time machine destination not resolvable.
It's read only because:
A: I cannot do repairs under Disk Utility, the buttons are grayed out.
B: I right click and "Get Info" and if I click on the lock icon, nothing happens.
C: The disk is not listed in the Time Machine backups.
I will try to take better notes the next time it happens and give you the exact messages.
There is another drive daisy chained to this external drive which holds my music. The music drive does not have a Mac OS installed on it and is only for storage. It works properly.

External Hard Drive suddenly "Read Only"

I have been successfully using an external drive (WD Passport, Mac OS Extended) as my "Home" folder for about a year. Yesterday it started acting funny, not letting me open applications then my iPhoto library began running very slow. So I relaunched iPhoto and it would not let me use my iPhoto library saying it was on a locked drive.
I rebooted the computer and than I was greeted with an error window saying the drive was damaged but I could still access my data. I tried to run repair tools (Disk Utility, Disk Tools Pro and Techtool) but it couldn't repair anything because the disk somehow became read only.
When I did a "Get Info" all my users had "Read & Write" privileges, except "Everyone" was "Read Only".
I clicked on the padlock to make changes but it was grayed out.
Do I have to do a full Back up and reformat? Does anyone know why this would happen and how to fix it and avoid it in the future? Is there a terminal command or a different way to change access to my drive?
FYI - also the "Ignore ownership..." box on the drive is unchecked.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!!
Message was edited by: Skip

Mickey and Skip,
I get very suspicious about "strange happenings" like this.
As an old hand in computing, I suspect that these are symptoms of imminent drive failure. I'd waste no time at all in getting a new drive and backing everything up.
You could then try reformatting the dicky drive, but I'd never trust it again…
Good luck,
Archie

External usb hard drive - read only

I connected an external hard drive to my macbook in hopes I would be able to use it for storage. I shows up and I can parse through all the files. When I try to add a file to a folder, it doesnt let me. Its says READ ONLY. I have never set any permissions. Any help on how I can fix this issue?

Select the drive on your desktop and hit command+i. This brings up an information panel.
At the bottom, click the lock and enter an admin username and password. Then, click the plus sign, choose the username you want to give read/write access to and select read/write. Then click the gear icon and select "Apply to enclosed items."
Cheers.

An External Hard Drive says read only, I want to write to this drive. How do I change this?

My external hard drive, which is connected via firewire, changed to a read only drive. I want to write to this drive. How do I change the setting to write to the drive?

If the drive comes from the Windows world, it will probably have an NTFS format. MacOS doesn't like NTFS and won't write to it. Would have to get some third party driver to enable writing.

External harddrive limited to 'read only'

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