Repair permissions now takes literally hours

on my MBP, i can repair permissions in five minutes or so. on my wife's macbook, it takes up to four hours. does anyone know why this may be and how to fix it? both are running the latest version of 10.6.3.

Carolyn Samit wrote:
HI,
on my wife's macbook, it takes up to four hours.
That shouldn't happen.
Boot your wife's Macbook from her install disc, run Disk Utility to Verify and if necessary Repair any errors on the startup disk.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. *Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space*
Carolyn
thanks for the response. so.... i repaired the disk as you suggested. nada. "the disk appears to be fine." i thought i'd repair permissions from the boot disk. big mistake. it's said, "15 minutes remaining" for the past 30 minutes and isn't budging. plus, now it won't let me quit (or even force quit). i know my wife's HD is quite full - i think there's 12GB free of 80GB total - but that shouldn't be it, should it?

Similar Messages

Repair permissions now takes 15-30 minutes

In leopard, permissions repair was slooooow. but upon moving to SL, it got a lot faster - that is, until just recently, probably coinciding with the 10.6.2 update, where it now gets stuck at the "2 minutes remaining" mark for approximately 15-30 minutes. it is at this point, we get the message:
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
anyone else experience this?
btw - this is on my wife's white macbook, not my MBP.

K T wrote:
Normal - pretty much everyone gets those. OK to ignore.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA21041?viewlocale=en_US
-=-=-=-
i've seen this issue before - but my problem is that repairing permissions takes up to half an hour now. on my MBP, which runs the same version of OSX and has a much bigger drive, repairing permissions takes under 5 minutes.
i'm wondering if it's an unrelated issue. is it possible to see what's hanging up the permissions repair?
Message was edited by: bscepter

Repaired permissions, now no applications run

After I repaired permissions, in my user account (not admin), no applications run?
Anyone know what I did wrong, and how I can fix it?
Thanks
it just stalls for ages and doesnt run. Only firefox and adium X is running. ...

Yes, you can boot up from an external drive. When you get it your will first need to prep the drive before installing OS X on it:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. 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.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with the OS X installation. When it has finished and rebooted you will be running from the external drive. You should then be able to fix things on the internal drive.
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Repair Permissions Running for 25 Hours - can I unplug?

After installing Leopard, I couldn't get past the blue screen. Finally got it to boot from the disk, and then ran repair permissions. It has been sitting there for 25 hours. Now, it's been "Stopping" for 10 hours since I tried to Stop Repair Permissions. The barber pole is sitting there not moving but sounds are still coming from the hard drive.
Can I unplug it or turn it off some other way, without ruining my hard drive? Any other suggestions? Once I get past this problem, I am buying Pro Care and taking it to an Apple store. This is ridiculous.
Oh, and my backup DVDs were used as frisbees by young relatives while I wasn't home and are useless. I purchased an external drive last night to start using when this is resolved, but at the moment I have NO backups. I already know I'm an idiot for not buying an external drive a long time ago, so please be nice.

Does the last line of output say that permission repair completed successfully? If so, what you see is normal. Repairing permissions is a waste of time and always produces reams of meaningless warnings.

Repaired permissions, now TM doing a full backup?

Hi, intelligent user who doesn't have much advanced knowledge concerning what Repairing Permissions even means here.
So I'm planning on replacing my Macbook Pro's HD, and I just finished making a full bootable backup onto a 200GB FW drive using Super Duper, and checked the "Repair Permissions first" option. I figured that having a latest Time Machine backup (1TB Time Capsule) would make sense as well, so before powering down to unscrew the case I did a Back Up Now. It scanned the entire computer and decided that it would backup all 70 GB fresh. I'm assuming this has something to do with having repaired permissions, but I don't quite know what that means. It may be something similar to what recently happened to me, when I erased my whole computer and refreshed from Time Machine, and then on the next backup it did everything over again instead of updating (for that backup I can still browse dates before that happened as long as I start at the root drive).
Anyone know what I could do to fix this?

Brian wrote:
We have to be careful here: there are three different scenarios:
New computer or logic board. Time Machine identifies your computer by it's +Media Access Control address+ (MAC address), embedded in the hardware of the logic board. There is a way that some folks have gotten around this on Leopard after a new logic board, but it's tedious and very easy to mess up (I did that, twice!) per the link in #C8 of Troubleshooting. (It's very dangerous on a different Mac).
That was automated for Snow Leopard, resulting in the Re-Use prompt mentioned in #B5 of Troubleshooting. But, as #B5 specifies, Time Machine usually still does a full backup; the advantage is, Time Machine will delete the old backups normally.
New drive on the same Mac (per the link you provided). I don't believe that works on Snow Leopard, and I've not seen a hack specifically for Snow Leopard posted here.
Full restore (from Time Machine, a "clone", or otherwise) to the same drive on the same Mac. This almost always results in a new, full backup. An Apple engineer said that would stop with Snow Leopard, but obviously didn't. Some real techie UNIX guru decided there ought to be a way to do it; he posted a two-page log here a few months ago, of altering all sorts of things via Terminal, converting UUIDs to hex, etc., and claimed to have made it work. But he did it only as an exercise, and even he wouldn't recommend it, even to expert UNIX types.
. . . I suppose the best way to save space on my Time Capsule (it now has at least 3 copies of my entire system with only very minor differences in the existence of some files) would be to make sure I have all the files I will ever want to have backed up, then delete the old records, which is something I presume wouldn't be too hard, make a fresh backup, then delete whatever I don't think I need right now, knowing it will all be found by scrolling back to July of 2010?
I'd have to agree. It just isn't worth the hassle, or the risk of damaging something that you might not notice for a long time. I have no problem hacking around with most things, but not my backups.
Depending on whether Time Machine made new sparse bundles, it may not be too tedious to delete the old backups. See #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Repaired permissions, now my iMac wants a password to delete anything.

I just repaired permissions on my computer (general maintenance), and now when I try to delete something from my desktop it asks for a password. I never set one on my account in the first place. I also need one to delete off the server in Adobe Bridge. How do I fix this?

See if Linc's suggestion in the following topic will work for you:
Permissions nightmare: Apple Support Communities
OT

HT1595 It takes literally hours to load a move and I have good wireless signal...what's up with that?

It is taking literally hours for movies to load on Apple TV using both NETFLIX and iTunes. I have a strong wifi signal and according to the connection test, all is well. What's up with that?

Wifi signal and connection test don't really give a good indication of where things are at
Check speedtest.net to see actual connection speed, needs at least 6mbps consistently for instant HD stream
Check istumbler.net or netstumbler to verify interference
Male sure you are on the ISPs DNS (settings - network - configure DNS - automatic)

Why Repairing Permissions takes so Long

Is it normal for the Leopard Disk Utility to take a really long time to Verify and/or Repair Permissions?
Repairing Permissions under Tiger was not bid deal bug in Leopard it really seems slow. There is now a timer but it it not even close. The one minutes can turn into 5 to 15 minutes. I wonder if the delay means there is something wrong with my installation?
arkay

There are more permissions for Leopard to check than there were in Tiger. I'm not sure that is the complete explanation but repair permissions does take a long, long time in Leopard and the progress indicator being stuck on 1 minute for so long adds insult to injury. You can post a complaint about it to Aople Feedback.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/
I've not found that verifying permissions is noticeably faster than repairing them so I never use the verify function.

Repair Permissions runs for hours

Following an update from Mavericks to Yosemite 10.10, I find that when I use the Disk Utility to repair permissions, it runs for hours, seemingly repairing every one of the 680,000 files on the iMac. If I reboot, and repair permissions again, it begins the same long process all over again. Should I re-install Yosemite from an online source?

Does the last line of output say that permission repair completed successfully? If so, what you see is normal. Repairing permissions is a waste of time and always produces reams of meaningless warnings.

Repairing permissions not repairing

I just installed a new 8-core Mac Pro, fresh install of Leopard, plus iLife 09 and a ton of my software.
Am finding this quirk: I repair permissions, and a bunch of "permissions differ" messages come up (most pertaining to Front Row, BackRow, iPhoto Access, and iWork) but if I run it twice in a row, those permissions don't get fixed. I thought Repair Permissions now permanently fixes all permissions (unlike older Mac OS's in which sometimes permissions wouldn't get fixed).
Problem?

David Das wrote:
I just installed a new 8-core Mac Pro, fresh install of Leopard, plus iLife 09 and a ton of my software.
Am finding this quirk: I repair permissions, and a bunch of "permissions differ" messages come up (most pertaining to Front Row, BackRow, iPhoto Access, and iWork) but if I run it twice in a row, those permissions don't get fixed. I thought Repair Permissions now permanently fixes all permissions (unlike older Mac OS's in which sometimes permissions wouldn't get fixed).
Problem?
Have you really searched these boards for identical issues before posting?
On the right side of this forum is a small window marked "Search Discussions"
It's very hand and obviates repetitive posts.
The answer to your question is no.

Can't update, can't repair permissions, what to do next?

Im using an iBook G4. Anyway, tried to update to 10.4.6 yesterday, the process stalled. Rebooting took a very long time. When I open system updater, the process hangs up about 1/4 of the blue bar across. I didn't know to repair permissions before starting, so I tried to do that later. Disk utility does not run properly, so I cannot repair permissions now. I get an error message about a background process.
The computer seems to work now, but what is my next move? Thanks.

Vipir,
Neither you nor I can really guess Apple's policy on the matter. You are welcome to submit it as feedback here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/
or call AppleCare on it and offer it as a suggestion.

Repairing Permissions is a real joke!!!

I thought Leopard was suppose to be better, faster. What's with the 10 minute wait for Repair Permissions to do what it's suppose to.
I can't be the only one seeing this!!!

Tiger has support for ACL's but they are off by default, and the system doesn't use them for anything, so for the most part the standard UNIX permissions are all that are used. Leopard on the other hand, has ACL's enabled, and most of the system folders have extended permissions (usually just a deny delete), so more things need to be checked. Repairing permissions now involves checking for an ACL in addition to the standard permissions, testing against the receipt and .bom files in the Receipts folder, and possibly repairing both. Using the "Apply to enclosed items" on a system folder can also have the unexpected side effect of creating a bunch of ACL's that the system is not expecting, so things can get pretty busy.
Repairing permissions isn't some kind of magic bullet that fixes everything, although sometimes it is hard to tell from some of the posts around here. You shouldn't have to use the repair permissions utility at all, unless there is some kind of problem with them - most just use it for system updates.

IMac takes several hours (literally) to boot

I updated my iMac with the latest updates yesterday including one or two firmware upgrades.
Now it takes literally several hours to boot... the circle on the startup screen just spins and spins.
Same deal with safe mode. Did a disk repaird, permissions, repair etc.
Apple has so little hardware to support and yet they still manage to mess things up.
I'm now stuck with an unusable Mac and work begins tomorrow.
Any help is appreciated

Contact Apple Service, iMac Service or Apple's Express Lane. Do note that if you have AppleCare's protection plan and you're within 50 miles (80 KM) of an Apple repair station, you're eligible for onsite repair since yours is a desktop machine.

Repairing permissions takes forever

Takes a minimum of 40 minutes...usually about an hour. I would really like to fix this, main reason being that my SuperDuper backups are taking a lot more time than they should. Problem is on both of my machines.
I am familiar with the kb article referencing permissions that you can safely ignore and this large discussion thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2106528&start=0&tstart=0
Does installing the 10.5.8 combo update twice fix this? Can it be done at this late date? I see that Safari 4.0.2 was part of the install, I am now running Safari 5.0.2.
Any other work around to correct this nuisance?

Hi...
Make sure there's enough free space on the disk.
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure you always have a minimum of 10% to 15% free disk space at all times.
Not enough free space can slow a drive down and may slow down repairing permissions as well. Try not to use any other apps at the same time. That may make a difference.
Carolyn

I've never run verify disk permissions before, but I finally have, and it says it's going to take an hour and 35 minutes to complete.

Although it keeps actively finding problems with the disk, the progress bar hasn't changed for more than a half an hour, and it still says it's going to take an hour and 35 minutes. I'm starting to worry it will never be done! My laptop, a Macbook Pro, is pretty old - about five years, and I don't know if the fact that I've never run a verify disk permissions before has anything to do with it.
The only non-greyed out option is to currently 'stop permission verify'.

Just let it run, it probably won't take that long. Also you may benefit from reading Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore.
Roger

Repair permissions now takes literally hours

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