Why can't I verify or repair disk permissions?

In recent weeks, when I have tried to verify or repair disk permissions, I get messages that say (whatever file) has been altered and will not be repaired.

bubbapao wrote:
I just wondered why I could suddenly no longer verify or repair anything.
That is not what you said in an earlier post. you said you got some errors that certain files could not be repaired. That is Not the same as I Can't Repair Anything. Certain files not having the permissions repaired is Normal. It happens on every Mac.

Similar Messages

Is anyone else having problems with Verifying and Repairing Disk permissions?

Hey folks, every time I try to verify and repair disk permissions lately, this is all I get...
Verifying permissions for “Macintosh HD”Group differs on “Library/Printers/InstalledPrinters.plist”; should be 80; group is 0.Permissions differ on “Library/Printers/InstalledPrinters.plist”; should be -rw-rw-rw- ; they are -rw-r--r-- .Warning: SUID file “System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent” has been modified and will not be repaired.
I usually get a long list, then repair it, and it seems to keep things clean.
I'm having trouble with my address book.
When I move the mouse down the bottom of the page my dock doesn't come up right away, sometimes it won't - I have to command tab to go to another program.
So I'm wondering if these are related. Thanks for any help!

Not specifically Sky & Yahoo, but there seem to be quite a few threads with password problems and Yahoo. Is that what you are experiencing. Long thread here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3804431
And a thread here where Gtj56 came up with a fix that worked for him:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3800540?start=15&tstart=0

Safe to verify and repair disk permissions with SSD?

Is it safe to verify and repair disk permissions with an SSD installed?

Thanks.
Its just strange, as soon as I repair all my permissions, if I verify them again straight away, there are some that already need re-repairing

Why do I keep having to repair disk permissions to print (wifi) to epson px720?

And is there anything I can do to sort this problem out?
Prints OK for a while after repairing disk permissions and reseting printers but after a while, unpredictably, send off and doesn't print - no error messages - just keeps spooling in print monitor.

So just reset printers doesn't do it?
Is this what you're doing?
Mac OS X: About the Reset Printing System feature ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1341?viewlocale=en_US

Why won't my macbook pro repair disk permissions after upgrading to Mountain Lion?

I upgraded my 2010 Macbook pro with 2.4gHz core 2 duo processor to Mountain Lion and ever since it has been giving me issues. One of my biggest concerns is that it will no longer repair disk permissions. The progress bar goes about half way and just sits there without finishing, and this is something i'm used to doing very regularly. Other than that it has been crashing fairly often and just acting strange where on Snow Leopard it never crashed or had any issues. Any suggestions?

Quit Safari. From the Finder click on Go > Go to Folder and type ~/Library/Preferences. Delete the com.apple.Safari.plist file. Logout/Login and restart Safari. Try to save a bookmark to the Bookmarks bar.
Message was edited by: hpr3

Why can't i click on repair disk for my hard drive in disk utility?

I have an iMac from 2010 and when I went to install the new OS (Yosemite) I got stuck in the screen where the install couldn't be verified. I opened up disk utility and when I went to verify my Mac HD. The verify failed and I got a popup window that said the disk needed to be repaired and to click on "repair disk". However the repair disk button is not lighting up and there's no way for me to click it. Everything else that I could verify was fine, the only thing that had a problem was the hard drive. Does someone know if there's anyway I can repair it? Please help, I haven't been able to use my computer for days now!

Try booting from the recovery partition and seeing if you can repair the disk drive from there.

Can't repair disk permissions

I just bought a new Mac Mini (2.0 GHz Core Duo w/2 GB of RAM and 320 GB HD) and migrated all of my files over to it from my Time Machine Backup. Over the past two days my two external hard drives have developed permission problems. Yesterday, I booted my computer and my Time Machine backup drive (Western Digital 1 GB) had a small lock on the desktop icon and my permissions were all messed up. I had two versions of my account with "custom" permissions and "Staff" and "Everyone" also with "custom" permissions. I couldn't fix it, so I formatted the drive and now it is working.
Today my other external drive (don't remember maker, 500GB) is doing the same thing (lock on icon, et al), but I don't want to erase it. I tried going to Disk Utility and the verify and repair disk permissions buttons are greyed out. Now, I can't get to my iTunes content on that drive.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
- Paul

Called Apple Support three times with less than lousy results. My Mac Mini crashed on my first call and it took three Leopard installs before I got back to where I was to begin with.
However, none of the technicians would touch Terminal to fix this issue, but I had found instructions all over the Web. So, I ran some of the commands in Terminal and magically I could fix my permissions on the external HD. I am now repairing permissions on my Macintosh HD and hopefully that will be the end of it.
Phew!

Verify/Repair disk permissions

I heard that it's a good idea to verify and repair disk permissions. What does that do? And, when should I do it?
-Eric

Hi, again, Eric.
My, we're curious today, aren't we?
See:
• My "The Repair functions in Disk Utility: what's it all about?" FAQ.
• My "Maintaining Mac OS X" FAQ. It covers my advice on "regular maintenance" and dispels some common "maintenance myths."
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Have to check & repair disk permissions on every restart

Can anyone explain why I have to check & repair disk permissions every time I have to restart my MacBook Pro. When I do the check I get various messages eg 'Library should be '0', is '80'. And other variations for Library.

I'd do one/more of a few things.
First, (and not only good for this exercise), I'd back up to a Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner clone - on an external disc, and/or use Time Machine.
Next step, boot in Safe mode and see how things are.
Next, create another account with similar permissions to the one you are using now. If the problem persists in this account also it is system wide.
Next boot from the clone you made and see what gives..........

Repair Disk Permissions Unavailable in Disk Utility

I just went to repair the Disk Permissions on one of my 4 internal hard drive and the tabs for Verify & Repair Disk Permissions were grayed out. I checked the other internal hard drives as well as my external drives connected via SATA and Firewire and the tabs are all the same. The only drive that the tabs are available is my internal startup drive. I have a memory that these tabs to verify and repair have always been available on all drives - am I remembering incorrectly? Any ideas? Thanks.

roam:
Repair Permissions is only available to do, on the drive that you are booted into.
I wondered about that, and before my previous post I tested it by launching DU while booted from my internal HDD and connected to an external FW HDD with two partitions, as well as to a USB HDD with my Time Machine backup. If I selected the FW HDD (Manufacturer ID) or either volume on it I could Verify or Repair Disk Permissions, as well as Verify or Repair Disk. It will Repair the TM backup, but not do anything with Disk Permissions. Of course, I am booted from Snow Leopard and did not test this while booted from an earlier OS, but, if I recall correctly, it worked the same way in Tiger and Panther.
cornelius

Disk Utility can't Verify Disk Permissions" and "Repair Disk Permissions"

I tried to run "Verify Disk Permissions" and "Repair Disk Permissions" on an external partition, but they all grayed out! "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk" were fine! The "Owners Enabled" is "Yes". Why they were grayed out ?!
Get Info on this volume showed:
Ownership & Permissions:
You can "Read & Write"
Details:
Owner: admin
Access: "Read & Write"
Ignore ownership on this volume: checked or unchecked STILL grayed out!
Other partitions on the SAME drive are able to do "Very Disk Permissions" and
"Repair Disk Permissions" (as they are NOT grayed out !) The ONLY difference
between the one (CAN'T) and the rest partitions is that one (CAN'T) has
owner by "admin", and the rest partitions (OK to veryify pewrmissions) are owner
by "system". ANY CLUE ?
-DC

The options to verify or repair permissions are only available on a disk with Mac OS X 10.2 or newer installed, and all Mac OS X versions set the owner of the partition containing them to system when installed.
(24684)

Verifying/Repairing Disk Permissions

I have read in the Forum that one should run Disk Permissions before and after updates, and it doesn't hurt to run it once in a while anyway. But it isn't clear to me when one should verify and when one should repair. After verification, we get the message "Permissions verification complete. Privileges have been verified OR REPAIRED" (capitalization mine). If the verification takes care of repairs, when should one click on the "Repair Disk Permissions"? Thanks.

There's no point in verifying. Always repair. However, repairing permissions need only be done before installing new system updates or after installing third-party software that uses a proprietary installer.
Before installing system updates I recommend doing this:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) 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 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) 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.

Why isn't Disk Utility clear after "Repair Disk Permissions"?

Having used my computer for several days I decided to use Disk Utility to “Repair Disk Permissions” after a few hours of use.
2008-11-29 08:30:17 -0800: Disk Utility started.
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 08:43:29 -0800: Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
2008-11-29 08:48:26 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
I shut down the computer, turned off its power for 1 minute and restarted. I initiated Disk Utility once again.
2008-11-29 09:16:42 -0800: Disk Utility started.
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 09:38:47 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
When Disk Utility was finished, I clicked on “Clear History” and reran “Repair Disk Permissions.”
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
Now everything seems clear.
My question...
Why did I initially see:
2008-11-29 08:43:29 -0800: Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
2008-11-29 08:48:26 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
and why after restarting should I end up with only
2008-11-29 09:38:47 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
and after “Clear History” and rerunning Disk Utility why is everything clear until I start using the computer again?
I’ve had it explained that “Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26” is not meaningful, but I’d like to know WHY it happens. I’d also like to know why “ Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .” initially appears.
Thank you,
ZTIWYM3ZUI

As a casual "Apple Discussions" user it hadn't occurred to me that if a question had been answered previously, it should never be asked again.
It's not that. It's because the problem's been beaten to death over the past fourteen months, since Apple shipped Leopard, that most consider it common knowledge, no matter where one's been visiting or how often. Every Apple/Macintosh related website has addressed the never ending issue. Finally, since the forums Help file says:
*I have a question or issue—how do I search for answers?*
+It's possible that your question or issue has already been answered by other members so do a search before posting a question. On most Apple Discussions pages, you'll find a Search Discussions box in the upper right corner. Enter a search term (or terms) in the field and press Return. Your results will appear as a list of links to posts below the Search Discussions Content pane.+
+You can also refine your search by using the options in the Search Discussions Content pane. Click the Search Tips link for help with our search features. You can streamline your results by restricting your search terms by category or forum, specifying a date range, or searching for posts by username. You can also search the User Tips Library.+
Maybe that should be retitled: *+I have a question or issue—how do I resolve it?+*
Just out of curiosity, I wonder if any of these exceptional people can figure out my signature.
ZTIWYM3ZUI - "time is what you make—use it" or something of that nature.

Can't repair disk permissions, System Updates wont install

Hi there,
I wondered, why any system update wont install on my MacBook Pro with Leopard 10.5.5. So I tried to repair disk permissions which causes an error that calls something like "there is an error in quitting the process" (sorry ... have only the german version, so this is nearly what it says).
Repairing the permissions from a Leopard DVD ends up the same way.
Repairing the harddisk works fine.
Updating the 10.5.5 Combo Update quits with an error that says "The Installation package couldn't install some of the files in "/". Contact the Manufacturer."
Any ideas what this could be ? Thought it startet a couple of days ago with the installation of a new Java Version, but I'm not sure if this causes any problems.
Thanks for any suggestions

ok,
I've found this in the logfiles:
Started verify/repair permissions on disk disk0s2 Macintosh HD
Error -9972: The underlying task reported failure on exit
Finished verify/repair permissions on disk disk0s2 Macintosh HD
Error detected while verifying/repairing permissions on disk0s2 Macintosh HD: The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)
Repairing the keychains worked fine but didn't solve the problem at all.

Verify & Repair Disk Permissions VS. Verify and Repair Disk

Is there a document that explains the differences in these two actions?
Thanks.

Hi Trevor,
Repair Permissions and Verify or Repair disk are two separate processes.
Repair Permissions is explained here.
Verify/Repair Disk is explained here.
-mj
[email protected]

Why can't I verify or repair disk permissions?

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