User settings reset and locked out of user folders ! How do I retreive?

Question

Hi everyone,
I'm sure a number of people here on the forums have come across the problem with the blue tint that appears every now and then. It usually appears when connecting an external monitor after the you come back from the screen saver.
Yesterday it happened for the first time without an external monitor connected. I have found a number of sites that have suggested using the command 'sudo chmod 664 *' within the Terminal. I have used it a couple of times to fix this problem but it did not work hence the reason it happened yesterday without a monitor connected. When I did use this command previously I first entered
cd /library/colorsync/profiles/display
When i did it for this occassion i forgot to enter the display folder first.
After this I did a restart and all my user settings were reset and I was locked out of all my user folders. I lost all my desktop settings and everything was back to when I first started my computer.
I did some hunting and found the command 'sudo chmod 777'. I tried this then did a reset and my desktop background returned and the folders were unlocked.
What I want to know is if this is the correct command to bring everything back to normal?
My user permissions in terminal are listed below
Using the command sudo chmod 664 *
drw-rw-r--+ 15 JoeBros staff 510 11 Jun 23:33 Desktop
drw-rw-r--+ 19 JoeBros staff 646 22 May 20:44 Documents
drw-rw-r--+ 46 JoeBros staff 1564 25 Jun 15:08 Downloads
drw-rw-r--+ 45 JoeBros staff 1530 10 Jun 23:56 Library
drw-rw-r--+ 4 JoeBros staff 136 1 Apr 19:19 Movies
drw-rw-r--+ 38 JoeBros staff 1292 4 Apr 18:08 Music
-rw-rw-r-- 1 JoeBros staff 92352512 29 May 18:20 Parallels-Desktop-5600-Mac-en.dmg
drw-rw-r--+ 57 JoeBros staff 1938 25 Jun 16:02 Pictures
drw-rw-r--+ 6 JoeBros staff 204 14 Jun 15:56 Public
drw-rw-r--+ 5 JoeBros staff 170 26 Mar 00:59 Sites
This is what is displayed after sudo chmod 777
total 180376
drwxrwxrwx+ 15 JoeBros staff 510 11 Jun 23:33 Desktop
drwxrwxrwx+ 19 JoeBros staff 646 22 May 20:44 Documents
drwxrwxrwx+ 46 JoeBros staff 1564 25 Jun 15:08 Downloads
drwxrwxrwx+ 45 JoeBros staff 1530 10 Jun 23:56 Library
drwxrwxrwx+ 4 JoeBros staff 136 1 Apr 19:19 Movies
drwxrwxrwx+ 38 JoeBros staff 1292 4 Apr 18:08 Music
-rwxrwxrwx 1 JoeBros staff 92352512 29 May 18:20 Parallels-Desktop-5600-Mac-en.dmg
drwxrwxrwx+ 57 JoeBros staff 1938 25 Jun 16:02 Pictures
drwxrwxrwx+ 6 JoeBros staff 204 14 Jun 15:56 Public
drwxrwxrwx+ 5 JoeBros staff 170 26 Mar 00:59 Sites
Does this look correct ??
Any help would be great thanks

Answer 1

I assume this access is open to everyone when I connecto any wireless network
No necessarily, it depends whether you just changed your home folders and nothing else.
But just your home folders present a problems as they should have extended attributes which are now removed. More on that later.
Using one chmod to a directory affects all equally, though the files may have individually different permissions.
I don't know how extensively you have altered the modes permissions, but from what you have shown in your first post your Home folders are incorrect.
For your home folder, which is the default location when you start Terminal, and I dont think you have strayed from there, all the listings, except Parallels are folders, prefaced with the letter d. for folder.
On my machine, for example, the pattern for the home folders all show
drwx------@ 5 xxxxxx staff 170 25 Jun 06:07 Desktop
normally that would be chmod 700 Desktop which will get you
drwx------
but note the @ which shows an extended attribute or ACL in Leopard.
to write the ACL shown as @
You will need to read
man chmod about ACL MANIPULATION OPTIONS
Personally, I think that playing around with chmod without a backup was not a good idea, and I wonder if your ambition has exceeded your knowledge. Sorry if that sounds tough, but a possible Archive and Install may be your safest path I think because what you have messed with was no small oops with a simple fix.
You could just change those home folders to chmod 700 and see how it goes without the attribute, or bite the bullet and do an Archive and Install.
I do not run parallels and so have no idea what is permissions should be.
That Time capsule is starting to look pretty good now
Message was edited by: roam2
Message was edited by: roam2