Repairing Permissions...Meaning of result

Hello everyone,
I have done a permissions repair 2 evenings in a row and the following result appeared after each repair...
"group differs on "private/etc/cups" should be 0, group is 26".
Does anyone happen to know what that means?
Thanks much-
joe

this message shows up for everybody after 10.5.3. It means just what it says that the group ownership id on this directory should be 0 according to the permissions database but is actually 26.
There is nothing to be done about it. If you manually change the ownership to get rid of the error, the system will change it back after a while. as the message seems to be harmless and impossible to fix you should ignore it.

Similar Messages

What does "Repair Permissions" mean?

Here are some official explanations from the Apple Knowledge Base.
The articles were written to apply to Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3, but they apply to 10.4 Tiger as well.
Here's the short explanation:
"About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
Here's the excruciatingly in-depth explanation:
"Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712

How do preferences get wonked in the first place?
In the previous thread on "symphony install problems"
Allan Sharman, "symphony install problem", 06:04am Nov 8, 2005 CDT
I tried to explain the problem in some detail. But here's a more concise explanation from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repair_permissions
"Repair permissions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Repairing disk permissions is a troubleshooting activity commonly associated with Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system.
The Darwin [Unix] layer of OS X manages which users are able to access which files by maintaining a list of Unix permissions for each file. Over time this data can become corrupted or get changed as applications edit the permissions to allow necessary file access, then get terminated before reverting them. The result of this is that in extreme circumstances the operating system may not allow itself to access files that it needs. This has been reported by users to result in the wide variety of errors already mentioned. Because of this, repairing permissions has become a standard troubleshooting first step to combat unexpected behaviour encountered on Mac OS X. Reparing permissions has been reported to fix problems with booting the system, misbehaving applications, Finder functions, malformed icons, problems with software installations and other problems besides. Although the necessity of carrying this process out as a maintenance activity has been called into question, some users claim that the process should be run on a weekly basis to prevent errors developing."

What does 'Repair Permissions' mean anyway?

Repairing permissions is usually my first line of defense (after re-start) whenever things go a little screwy, but I really don't know what that means. What exactly is being repaired? And what's being "permitted"? Is it about corrupted files?
I'm just curious (and a little confused).
: )

Repairing permissions should not be the first line of defense if you have problems. In fact permissions should rarely ever require repairing and rarely solve any problem. Here's some good reading:
Repair Permissions- A false panacea
Repairing permissions- What you need to know
Take Control of Permissions in OS X.
If you want to keep your computer running smoothly, then read the following:
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.2 is Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.

My MacBook Pro is running very slow. I've run repair permissions without positive result. Does anyone have any ideas?

My MacBook Pro (2010) is runnign very slow. This came on all of a sudden. It opens, closes, reboots, etc., all much slower than ever before. I have used the repair disk permissions without any positive result. Does anyone have any ideas?

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
Take these steps when you notice the problem.
Step 1
Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
Step 2
You must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way as above. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Post the 50 or so most recent messages in the log — the text, please, not a screenshot.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out before posting.

How come I always get the same results when I repair permissions?

When I repair permissions I get the following messages, even if I do it again immediately afterwards:
+Permissions differ on "usr/share/derby", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .+
+Repaired "usr/share/derby".+
+Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.+

The message about the ARDAgent is the result of an Apple update to Apple Remote Desktop from awhile ago. If you ran the update, you will get the notice. The "derby" message says that instead of a folder in the /usr/share directory there is now a symbolic link. Since derby is a java gizmo for the Apache web server, and there is a new Java update from Apple (which I haven't run yet, as it requires a restart), it is quite possible that the update makes that change. As Barney noted, Apple has not been good at making changes in the permissions database when they send out updates. The result is that we begin to see these little notes. Initially the database was in complete accord with what the installation had, and there were no warnings at all in Snow Leopard. After the ARD update the SUID warning began, and it is likely the Java update just added another one.
However, the tendency of people to just automatically ignore all warnings all the time, a legacy of the horrible performance of Apple in updating the database in Leopard (where one would get dozens of these things), is I think unfortunate. There can be real errors, some of which could indicate something bad, such as a compromised computer. One really needs to stop and think about which files are showing a warning, and what the warning means, and whether it is the case that all Snow Leopard installations that are fully updated are showing the particular warnings in question.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

What does it mean when REPAIRING PERMISSIONS just hangs indefinetly?

I'm running Repairing Permissions and it just stops a little before halfway
through the process. It stops progressing.
Is it fixing something and if I leave it alone for an hour or so will it eventually
move on, or is the fact that it keeps stopping in that one spot usually
mean there is a serious hard drive problem?
It's a G4 1.6 powerbook, running 10.3.9. And it's running really slow, so
I'm trying to repair permissions to see if that will help.

hi brvideo,
repairing permissions is not likely to speed your machine up.... i would start off by rebooting, and just before the chime hold down the command and S keys at the same time. your machine will boot into single-user mode (black screen with ascii text on it)...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106388
then type /sbin/fsck -fy and hit return.
are any errors seen? if so, enter that command again. if it looks like they got fixed, then enter reboot to restart...
post back with the results.... cheers

Mac won't update software or access iTunes shop. Message comes up with 'not connected to the net. Check connections' error. I still have internet access. Changed my Apple ID but no result. Repaired permissions and re-installed operating system.

Mac won't update software or access iTunes shop. Message comes up with 'not connected to the net. Check connections' error. I still have internet access. Changed my Apple ID but no result. Repaired permissions and re-installed operating system.

It sounds like you may have multiple problems, but none of them are likely to be caused by malware.
First, the internet-related issues may be related to adware or a network compromise. I tend to lean more towards the latter, based on your description of the problem. See:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/baddns.php
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/hackedrouter.php
If investigation shows that this is not a network-specific issue, then it's probably adware. See my Adware Removal Guide for help finding and removing it. Note that you mention AdBlock as if it should have prevented this, but it's important to understand that ad blockers do not protect you against adware in any way. Neither would any kind of anti-virus software, which often doesn't detect adware.
As for the other issues, it sounds like you've got some serious corruption. I would be inclined to say it sounds like a failing drive, except it sounds like you just got it replaced. How did you get all your files back after the new drive was installed?
(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com, in the form of buttons allowing for donations. Donations are not required to use my site or software.)

Repair permissions results

Every time I repair permissions I get a lot of results (pasted at the bottom of this message)
How come I get the same results each time ie: once it's repaired them why do they come up again if I immediately repeat the 'repair permissions'?
The first ones to do with widgets are probably because I have Konfabulator installed.
But the rest of them I don't know why they are appearing.
Is everything OK ??
please see the results below:
Determining correct file permissions.
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/Dictionary.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/Dictionary.widgetplugin/Contents/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/Dictionary.widgetplugin/Contents/MacOS/Dictio nary. New permissions are 33261
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/Dictionary.widgetplugin/Contents/version.plis t. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Dictionary.wdgt/version.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/FlightTracker.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/FlightTrackerComboBoxPlugin.plugin/Contents/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/FlightTrackerComboBoxPlugin.plugin/Contents/MacOS/FlightTrackerCom boBoxPlugin. New permissions are 33261
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/FlightTrackerComboBoxPlugin.plugin/Contents/version.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/parser.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Flight Tracker.wdgt/version.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Stickies.wdgt/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Stickies.wdgt/Stickies.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Stickies.wdgt/version.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Unit Converter.wdgt/Info.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Unit Converter.wdgt/UnitConverter.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Unit Converter.wdgt/parser.js. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets/Unit Converter.wdgt/version.plist. New permissions are 33188
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./Library/Widgets. New permissions are 16877
We are using a special gid for the file or directory ./System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/MacOS/Dock. New gid is 0
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/MacOS/Dock. New permissions are 33261
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./usr/lib/php/build/Makefile.global. New permissions are 33060
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./usr/lib/php/build/acinclude.m4. New permissions are 33060
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./usr/lib/php/build/mkdep.awk. New permissions are 33060
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./usr/lib/php/build/phpize.m4. New permissions are 33060
We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./usr/lib/php/build/scanmakefilein.awk. New permissions are 33060

Hi Peter, this is normal.
See:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107298
Also:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=121755&tstart=0
"The lines listed above are merely notifications that special permissions are being used for the files listed. When these files were originally installed, they had certain permission settings. Since then, Apple has decided that changing the permissions on those files slightly would result in a more secure OS. The message you see is simply a notification that Disk Utility will be looking to make sure the permissions of the listed files match these new, special permission settings rather than the original. You will likely see this every time you run Repair Permissions from now on. This isn't cause for concern. "
-mj
[email protected]

HT2963 When I repair permissions, get one reading that can't be repaired. "Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired." What does this mean?

When I repair permissions in disk untilities, I get one result that cannot be repaired:
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
I recently had a new hard drive installed by Apple, after mine failed. The permissions seem to get out of whack quite often, and I get the message above.
Can you please tell me what may be going on?

For more information, see:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448
Regards.

Getting this error when repairing permissions. What does it mean????

Hello,
I just ran premissions repair with OSX's disk utility.
What do these errors meana nd are they a serious issue?
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
MacPro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2G ram.. iSight camera
MacPro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2G ram.. iSight camera

Hi Rich, it sounds like your MacBook is running well after the archive & install.
when the user login screen came up... and it trashed my Adobe CS2/CS3 installs and Parallels.It trashed them? Are you sure it didn't save them in a folder called, "Previous System" on the top level (root level) of your hard drive? Can't you just re-install them?
Also, you should maintain some type of backup, preferably on a firewire hard drive. If you clone your entire system over to one and make it bootable, you never have to worry.
You can also run Apple Hardware Test to set your mind at ease about hardware issues:
Using Apple Hardware Test:
1. Disconnect all external devices from your iMac except the keyboard and mouse.
If you have an Ethernet cable connected, disconnect it.
2. Insert the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 that came with your iMac.
3. Restart your iMac and hold down the D key as your iMac starts up.
4. When the Apple Hardware Test chooser screen appears, select the language
appropriate for your location.
5. Press the Return key or click the right arrow button.
6. When the Apple Hardware Test main screen appears (after about 45 seconds), follow
the onscreen instructions.
7. Apple Hardware Test displays an error code if it detects a problem. Make a note of the
error code before pursuing support options.
I don't know about that CleanApp thingy, not sure you need it for anything,
-mj
[email protected]

Repair permissions what does all these errors mean?

Repairing permissions for “mac”
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Sites".
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Desktop".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Documents".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Downloads".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Application Support".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Assistants".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Digidesign".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds/Alerts".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/ColorPickers".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Compositions".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Favorites".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/FontCollections".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Fonts".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie/Plug-ins".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie/Sound Effects".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Input Methods".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Internet Plug-Ins".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Keyboard Layouts".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Printers".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Screen Savers".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Sounds".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Voices".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Movies".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Music".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Pictures".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Public".
Permissions differ on "Library", should be drwxrwxr-t , they are drwxrwxr-x .
ACL found but not expected on "Library".
ACL found but not expected on "Applications/Utilities".
ACL found but not expected on "Applications".
Permissions repair complete

Ignore it. I suspect they are not actually "errors." You can search the forum for more information, as this topic has been covered several times. Basically, ARDagent.app is used for the iChat screen sharing service, and it was modified with the Apple Remote Desktop update. The "errors" are more likely the way things are supposed to be, but have not been included in the Disk Utilities exceptions list.
Everyone who has done the update has the SUID warning. Most have ACL exceptions on several folders. You seem to have it on a lot, but I wouldn't worry. That's probably exactly how ACL settings are supposed to be for those folders—Disk Utility just doesn't know it yet.

Should I repair permissions before or after updating to Mac OS X 10.7.2?

Hi,
Should I repair permissions before or after updating to Mac OS X 10.7.2? or should I fix permissions before and after the update?

This is not a routine maintenance. Upgrades can be screwed up if the system that is upgraded is screwed up. I believe in a "better safe than sorry" approach. If you repair permissions and the hard drive prior to an upgrade then if there be a problem perhaps that problem will not propagate to the new upgraded system. If there are no problems doing the repairs is harmless.
When it comes to the topic of permissions repairs there are many opinions but not much fact. In other words there doesn't appear to be a formal analysis of whether repairing permissions is only useful when a permissions problem arises. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that a repair both before and after a major system upgrade can reduce the risk of problems.
This is my opinion on the matter. I do not generally disagree with Niel or MacJack, but as I said I prefer to be safe rather than sorry.
Here's my general approach:
How to Install Lion Successfully - You must have Snow Leopard 10.6.7 or 10.6.8 Installed
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities. 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 (4.3.) if DW cannot fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard.
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 backup volume. Source means the internal startup volume.
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 to Lion:
Purchase the Lion Installer from the Mac App Store. The download will start quickly. Lion is nearly 4 GBs so a fast internet connection is essential. Download time could run upwards of 4 hours depending upon network conditions and server demands at the time.
Boot From The Lion Installer which is located in your Applications folder.
Follow instructions for installation.

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).

Verify/Repair permissions dimmed

Disk utility/verify/repair permissions are dimmed - maybe resulting from some new programmes downloaded recently. I have been able to verify/repair disk in installation option but this has not resolved the problem. All appears to work but obviously I would prefer to correct this little matter.I have some (but not a lot of) knowledge so hope the solution is going to be easy. I would prefer not to have to re-install OSX for obvious reasons.
Thanks in anticipation.
Den.

Hi Dennis,
first of all: WELCOME TO THE DISCUSSIONS!
Are you sure you mean "Repair permissions"? Mind that you have 2 options in disk utility:
1. Repair disk
2. Repair permissions
In order to repair the disk you have to boot from the install CD or another bootable volume.
Repair permissions should be done when booted from the hard disk.
In both cases make sure you select the disk in the left sidebar.

After updating to Yosemite, I updated iPhoto. Alert said to convert my library to new iPhoto. Then alert said I needed to repair permissions. Then a freeze. Then iPhoto won't find and show my library. How do I fix this?

After updating to Yosemite, I updated iPhoto. Alert said to convert my library to new iPhoto. Then alert said I needed to repair permissions. Then a freeze. Then iPhoto won't find and show my library. How do I fix this? I can see the library icon on my external drive, but it doesn't show as a library in iPhoto. When I double click on the icon, nothing happens. When I choose it from alternate menu, doesn't open. Where do I get help?

Peter
Do you have a back up? What version of iPhoto do you have? Assuming 09 or later:
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

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).

Repairing Permissions...Meaning of result

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