I constantly need to repair permissions, hundreds need repairing weekly

Hi, this is not a new problem with my MacBook Pro, and I have recently encounter the same problem whilst trying to fix a friends MacBook Pro after she approached me with the same issue. I have had a mac in new form or another since 1994 so without being a certified Mac technician, I know my way around pretty well. I use my mac all day every day and am always on grand to help my friends with theirs so I'm totally baffled by this issue.
Each week I have to repair my permissions, in fact if I use it more that usual then it will be a disk utility fix in 2 or 3 days, the permissions that need to be fixd vary depending on what programmes I have been using, itunes comes up more than most. After a few months of this I decided that the hard drive must bat fault so, having the old one still in warranty, brought a new one, backed it up and returned the old one to the store hoping to get a refund, they tested it and found no fault with the drive... So I reformatted it and cleaned it and have had no problems with it since it's in a hard case and used as an external. Again after a few weeks I have the same permissions problem back again on the new drive... So I diced to update the operating system, now running 10.8.5, it's made no difference. I still have fix my permissions every couple of days as it get he dreaded rainbow wheel and my work flow becomes impossible. So my fiend came to me with her MacBook Pro, I much newer model than men and told me of the dreaded spinning wheel . I fixed her permissions and then again in a few days time the spinning wheel was back. I changed her hard drive too and the problem persisted the same as my own.
Please can someone help me figure this out ... Why am I getting these constant permission issues
I have downloaded disk warrior and put both macs through the software,
Is anyone else having these problems...
Sorry for the long winded explanation. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

Hi. Yes I know of the ones I can safely ignore, but I'm talking about hundreds of permissions that need to be repaired every few days and the reason why I run disk utility is because my programmes won't run properly and every action is greeted by a minutes worth of rainbow wheel. That is when I rerun disk utility to find yet again a hundred or more permissions that have to be repaired and continue to have to be repaired.
Desperate for some help with this.
Thanks

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Does repair permissions etc. need to be done after upgrade to 10.6?

My used Early 2009 Mini came with Leopard and I upgraded it to Snow Leopard. Haven't had the chance to use it yet. Need to update to the latest version of SL. Just wondered if I should do repair permissions etc. before using it. Or install all of the software I need and do the repair permissions etc. after that.
Thanks.
Silverado93

How to Install OS X Updates Successfully
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
Boot from your current Tiger Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and later.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. Make a Bootable Backup Using Restore Option of Disk Utility:
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
C. Important: Please read before installing:
If you have a FireWire hard drive connected, disconnect it before installing the update unless you will boot from this drive and install the update on it. Reconnect it and turn it back on after installation is complete and you've restarted.
You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)
The installation process should not be interrupted. If a power outage or other interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below) from Apple Downloads to update. While the installation is in progress do not use the computer.
D. To upgrade:
Purchase the Snow Leopard Retail DVD.
Boot From The OS X Installer Disc:
Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
Restart the computer.
Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
Wait for installer to finish loading.
E. If updating:
Download and install update(s)
Use Software Update, or
Download standalone updater(s).

Repair permissions still needs repair

I have repaired permissions three times with a restart between each repair. Am I to asume they have been repaired or is there still 45 or so things still wrong?

If your permissions have been repaired, it will say at the bottom,"permissions have been repaired". There will almost be some permissions that will ned repair, that does not mean there is a problem. Using the same procedure>Go utilities>disk utilities>select your user disk (usually Mac HD), highlight that, then click verify disk, if there are errors there they will be displayed at the end. If repair disk is not grayed out click that, if it is you will need to use the install disk, and select repair disk. ATB

'Repair Permissions' doesn't repair permissions?

As part of my efforts to solve this problem:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=296986&tstart=0
... I copied my entire user folder from a recent backup to a mirrored volume.
Unfortunately, instead of using a proper backup program like Retrospect, I foolishly used the GUI to simply drag and drop my user folder to the mirror and later, to "restore" it. Apparently, that caused all of the permissions all over my ~/ folder to be borked beyond belief.
I have tried repeatedly using repair permissions, but it hasn't changed a single permission setting on any file or folder of my user folder, as far as I can tell. My account is the admin account of course, although Disk Utility never asks me to authenticate when repairing permissions.
I have other user folders on the machine which are working fine, and I have managed to fix some of my file & folder access issues by duplicating the permission settings seen on their folders (substituting my user name where appropriate, obviously).
One of the more frustrating issues as a result of all this is that anything I download with Safari goes to the correct download folder, but is not visible in the GUI. I can find it by searching with the Finder, and permissions appear to be correct for the file, it just isn't visible in the GUI.
Anyone have any ideas why Disk Utility isn't repairing permissions to their correct states, and also why downloaded files might be invisible to me despite them having the right permissions (and the downloads folder also seemingly having the right permissions)?

Repair Permissions only works for the OS and installed applications. It does not fix permissions on user data, only on files referenced from the receipt files (in /Library/Receipts and ~/Library/Receipts).

I repair permissions, run Onyx, repair permissions again, but doesn't work

The same permissions--a large number of them--need re-repairing again after each of these.
What's wrong here?

permissions messages you can safely ignore

Repair permissions - always the same ones need repairing (Shockwave)

Each time I do a Repair Permissions after doing an installation (in this case Security 008 update for Intel on my MBP) the same permissions always are repaired and ONLY these. Here's the report I always get:
Permissions differ on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences, should be -rwxrwxr-x , they are -rw-rw-r--
Owner and group corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences
Permissions corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences
Does this seem logical? correct?
I know they are repaired since when I go to do the next installation and begin by Repairing Permissions, nothing needs repairing. Yet I know that after another installation the Shockwave permission differences will rear their heads again.
I do know tht Shockwave is an Adobe thing and I believe it is needed for Quicktime. Could there be something wrong with my Shockwave - or is this typical of Adobe products?
Thanks,
Mrs H

Mrs H wrote:
Each time I do a Repair Permissions after doing an installation (in this case Security 008 update for Intel on my MBP) the same permissions always are repaired and ONLY these. Here's the report I always get:
Permissions differ on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences, should be -rwxrwxr-x , they are -rw-rw-r--
Owner and group corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences
Permissions corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences
Does this seem logical? correct?
I know they are repaired since when I go to do the next installation and begin by Repairing Permissions, nothing needs repairing. Yet I know that after another installation the Shockwave permission differences will rear their heads again.
I do know tht Shockwave is an Adobe thing and I believe it is needed for Quicktime. Could there be something wrong with my Shockwave - or is this typical of Adobe products?
Thanks,
Mrs H
So, I have now updated the Security Update 008 on the G4 and guess what, the same Shockwave Repair permission issue. It DID NOT appear when I repaired permissions before and after the other updates (Java, QuickTime, Migration DVDCD..., etc) But Shockwave repairs did appear after Security 008.
I found this link to another thread here on Security 008 and Shockwave. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8699716&#8699716
...but, I don't know if this is my problem.
In any case, I just have to update iTunes (only on G4) and Safari (on all my Macs) and then I'm good to go - or at least good to go and figure out what is wrong with Shockwave!
Oh one more update to do - a casual remark I made in reply to another poster has led me to learn that I can update my Appleworks 6 and get it to work in X. Hurrah!
Mrs H

Repairing permissions takes a long time!!

Ever since upgrading to Leopard I've found that repairing permissions takes a long time (30 to 60 minutes), and repairing the disc takes even longer. I've recently run the Apple Hardware Test - everything passed, then ran a 3rd party memory test ("Memtest"), and everything was "OK", and I used "Leopard Cache Cleaner" to clear all the caches, but still it took 18 minutes to verify permissions, then 22 minutes to repair them, which seems a long time to me. The blue progress bar goes immediately to about 10% saying estimated time is 1 minute, stays there for about 15 minutes then progress actually starts. Can anyone advise?
Tim

Yes, RP has been problematic since 10.5.0. We're all a bit frustrated...
You can speed the process by not choosing to "Verify" permissions. Just run the "Repair" permissions, no need to verify also, you're just doing extra work.
-mj
Message was edited by: macjack

Permissions: Verify vs Repair

I'm still a bit unclear about the need for both Verify and Repair permissions. Since Repair will fix whatever needs fixing, why would I do just a Verify? Is it okay to skip Verify and go right to Repair?
And should I be doing either/both on a regular basis? (If so, how often?)
Thanks in advance,
rb

They probably left that in due to the Unix permission restrictions: you can only Repair if you are running Disk Utility from an Admin account, and not all users have that privilege. As for how often, I would recommend repairing:
-- Before AND after applying any Apple O.S. update.
-- After installing any new application.
-- After any unexpected system crash (kernel panic). Do it together with Disk Repair.

Lost Option For Disk Repair Permissions

Hi Gang
I'm using 10.4.11
Unless I'm missing something here, it seems I've lost the option to Repair Disk Permissions for all of my
Non-System Drives? I now only have the option to Repair Disk Permissions for the System Drive only.
I never had this condition before - always ran Repair Disk Permissions for all the external drives on a regular basis. Perhaps this process was never necessary to begin with? But that still doesn't explain why the option is 'Grayed Out'
What have I done differently? The only thing I can think of, is the fact that I added an 800 FW cable internally (to the 3rd internal FW800 Out Port), on one if the PCI Multi Port Cards. That additional Drive is turned off right now.
Screen Shots;
http://www.locationstudio.net/YesRepair.jpg
http://www.locationstudio.net/NoRepair-1.jpg
http://www.locationstudio.net/NoRepair-2.jpg
Yes I realize I have a lot of external drives, but I'd rather not get into a discussion of SATA Controller Cards at this point. I've got tons of Video Files that would ALL need reconnection in FCP. Trust me, it's not an option right now.
I'm just looking for an opinion about the loss of that Option to 'Repair Disk Permissions'
Thanx
Mike

And you mean, therefore, only SYSTEM Disks can have 'Repair Disk Permissions' performed? Correct?
Correct.
If so, then why was I able to see that function before? 'Repair Disk Permissions' was ALWAYS there despite the circumstances. Ummm?
Did you ever clone your internal to these before? It really should not be available unless there is an OSX on it.
How bout 'Disk Repair'? Does it benefit to perform this function on all of these external drives? I've always read this before.
Actually, THE most important one is Disk Repair, and it really should be done before any Permission Repairs... now it's not a problem to Repair Permissions if the Disk is OK, but Repairing Permissions if the Disk Directory is the slightest messed up is like sending envelopes of cash out to addresses, but all the street signs have been changed.
Just to see if it would make a difference, I checked the Box 'Ignor Disk Permissions' Same result - can only perform 'Disk Repair'
Yes, the way it should be, but normally you want Ignore permission set on external drives. You can have or set Permissions on external drives, but it's normally not needed.
BTW, Repair Permissions does not Repair all Permissions on your Boot Drive either, just on System Files/Folders, not any in your Users folder for instance.

OS X System Freezes While Running Disk Utility repair permissions

While trying to pepair permissions systom freeze up. So I put in the startup disk hit restrat holding down c and tried to repair permissions that way and it froze up that way too. I had to manually turn off machine. What is going on?

Thanks for your response, I only have one disk. 10.5.1 I have 10.6 on usb drive. I will try running Disk Utility from the first DVD and instead of repair permissions try to repair your drives. The reason I was repairing permissions is I have an app called video converter and when I opened it I got an error window. Ok I will try repair disk. If that doesnt work I guess I will have to reinstall the os? Is that right? Ok, here I go to try it.

TS1550 Error message: Backup Failed. However if the startup disk permissions are repaired one only backup will succeed before the permissions are again repaired. How is this to be fixed?

Error message: Backup Failed. However if the startup disk permissions are repaired one backup will succeed before the permissions are again repaired. How is this to be fixed?

Hi,
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.
Then Repair the backup Disk... any change?

Repair Permissions Feedback ?

I usually repair permissions about once a week or so and find that it repairs the same thing almost every time? I am just wondering what exactly it is and why it keeps having to be repaired? Any help would be appreciated.
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions differ on ./private/var/log/secure.log, should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r-----
Owner and group corrected on ./private/var/log/secure.log
Permissions corrected on ./private/var/log/secure.log
Permissions repair complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Thanks
MBP Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1.83GHz 15.4" 2GB

That message means that the weekly cron task has been run since you last used the repair permissions command; this task sets the permissions on the secure.log file as well as several others to -rw-r----- after rotating the logs, which allows all admin users to read the log. The repair permissions command changes them to -rw------- to keep the secure.log file secure, with only root able to read or change the log's contents.
(20103)

Repair permissions keeps finding problems

2007 MacBook 2.16
OS 10.6.8
New Hard drive
Just replaced my hard drive b/c my old one was having serious problems (spinning beachball with every move or click) and it was failing SMART. My Admin user on the failing HD worked fine, but my primary user account was unusable.
After swapping HDs, I installed a fresh copy of 10.6 then moved my user and applications from the failing drive to my new drive. All is working much better but there still seem to be some quirks, so I thought I'd repair permissions as a first step. Seemed like a reasonable thing to do given the problems I was experiencing. But when I run it, I keep getting something like 18 or 20 problems that are, in theory, "repaired." I've copied and pasted into TextEdit to look through for duplicate issues (i.e. repair permissions finding and repairing the same mistake each time) and for a while found no duplicate entries. Now it's finding the same issues each pass.
I've run repair permissions at least 10 times now, probably closer to 20, with issues found each time. Is this normal, and should I ever hope to see the issues repaired with only one or two warnings or issues? It used to have to modify a few permissions just to run so it would never run without at least one or two problems, but I never get to that stage.
Again, what might be going on here, and can/should I at some point give up and hope all is well?
Thanks!

For a little more on this:
I've read this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1448
Seems like I may now be getting similar permissions problems that can perhaps be ignored, but mine are all related to System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement. My specific permissions issues aren't in the list in this link.
Here's an example:
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Su pport/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Su pport/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
I also am getting one SUID warning related to System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ each time I run it.
As I said above, it now seems to be finding the same permissions problems each pass.
Thanks again!

Yesterday I ran Disk Utility and came up with hundreds of permissions that needed repair. I hit the "repair permissions" button and waited until it said they were repaired, but just for fun I hit the v

Yesterday I ran Disk Utility and came up with hundreds of permissions that needed repair. I hit the "repair permissions" button and waited until it said they were repaired, but just for fun I hit the "verify permissions" button again, and they all came back! I did this several more times and every time I would hit "verify permissions" I would get the same list. What's up? I've always suspected diagnostic programs, but this is Apple's own!

Ignore them. They aren't errors. You will keep seeing the same ones. As long as you get the message "Permissions repair complete," you're OK.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?viewlocale=en_US

10.7.5 Missing Recovery HD, Need to repair permissions before upgrade?

I ran Disk Utility on my sluggish MBP and was informed that the disk permissions (and the disk?) need to be repaired.
I inherited this computer, and used CCC to migrate from my old computer with a clone. Now, it appears the Recovery HD is missing.
I did a bit of research, and it seems installing Mavericks on top of all these issues is not advised until I repair the permissions using the present OS, but I do not have access to a similar computer running Lion in order to build a Recovery HD on an external drive.
Can someone help me to understand the best path to take to repair the permissions? (I would prefer to stay w/ 10.7.5 but thought moving to the new OS would repair permissions and so became open to that. It is an older machine (c.2009) so I would prefer to stay with what has up until now been working, but am open to any feasible solutions, including Mavericks.)
Thank you!

The Internet Recovery and Recovery HD partition are the same thing?
Closer to the point: What do I do now?
I am DL Mavericks and am going to create an external boot drive, then will boot to that and attempt to repair the disk, then will install Mavericks on top of that (if need be.)

I constantly need to repair permissions, hundreds need repairing weekly

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