Why do disk permissions keep getting corrupted?

The disk permissions on my Macbook Pro keep getting corrupted and I have to run the Disk Utility Program to repair them. What is likely causing this issue?

If you see permissions appear to be repaired again, it could be among those that can safely be ignored:
Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore

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Why my drive keep getting corrupt?

I have a MacBook Pro 17" (February, 2011). I run it with the stock Thoshiba hard drive for most of is life. One month ago the mac crash and drive was corrupted and it could not be repaired. I tried disk warrior, apple utility tool and fsck -fy. They all said my drive can't be repaired. The drive had no sign of being broke expect from being corrupted. For the sake of getting better speed I bought a SSD since I need to reinstall everything anyway. So I switched my Thoshiba drive for an OCZ vertex 3. Everything running fine for two weeks until the mac crash again and won't boot again. Tools all said again that the drive can't be repaired. I am pretty sure both drive are in working condition. So anyone have any idea why my drives keep getting corrupt? Do you think I am just really unlucky and I should get a third drives?
Additional info:
I was using Mac OSX 10.8.4 on both drives when they crash and get corrupt.
I use mostly the mac for IOS app development (with monotouch) and play game on it like once a month

how are you SURE both drives are working fine? Did you try to format and test them on another computer?
Id say unlucky yes. Toshiba drives are made by Hitachi, are the best conventional HD, but they all fail. there are only 3 HD mfg. on earth.
best SSD are sandisk and samsung.

Envelope or Indexing keeps getting corrupt even after mutliple imports

Similar to the Mail has Gone Nuts post, the indexing for Mac Mail 2.1 on Tiger 10.4.10 keeps getting corrupt although I am not using a .mac account which is what most of that particular post is centered on. I say corrupt as my inbox will say it has several hundred messages but will only show a few messages. I am trying to clean the mailbox up by moving email, deleting, etc. After awhile I cannot move messages out of the inbox to another folder - even when I try to move one email. I can create a new mailbox for archiving but I still cannot move. I ran the disk permission utility to make sure it was not a permission error. After a bit all the mail in the inbox disappears. I delete the envelope file, import to create a new one, and everything is fine for awhile. Then same cycle. Is anyone seeing the same issue or have any clues as to how to fix?

I got on the phone with Apple. We created a test user account and established an identical mailbox with our ISP. The email was downloaded and then it disappeared again when I clicked on the sent email box. Nothing else was loaded. So I was told it was an OSX issue. Reloaded that and mail seems to work now. Have a few other issues now but making some progress.

Photos keep getting corrupted in Lightroom Catalog - Help!

Photos in my LR Catalog (usually over a year old) keep getting corrupted. When I go to a dated folder, a strip comes up with the photos. Some of them are fine, some of them have an "!" on the photo saying "An error occured when working with this file." So I try to "EDIT IN PS." It will allow me to choose "Edit a Copy" and so when PS tries to open it, the error message says "The document may be damaged. File may be truncated or incomplete." I open anyway, and it shows fine 2/3 or 3/4 of the way down, then it gets chunky....like someone cut off the bottom of the photo and bumped it up a bit. I will attach a photo. HOW can I keep this from happening??? I have my catalog on a Seagate external drive because my laptop can't handle all the space it would take up. I always wait until it says I can eject, although it almost NEVER says that, even after being left for HOURS, so I shut down the computer, then unplug the hard drive. I would love some help, because this keeps happening!!!

I tried opening one of the affected photos directly into Photoshop without using LR first. It looks like this.

Files keep getting corrupted.

Heavily used, shared, files keep getting corrupted. Seems like StarOffice8 or Solaris (not sure which is responsible) doesn't do file locking! If someone opens the file, when it's already open, there's no indication of that! Obviously that can lead to edits being lost. However, the bigger problem is if 2 people save at the exact same time. In that case the file becomes completely mangled and unreadable!
Anyone have some solutions out there?

The Captivate version number is shown at Help > About Adobe Captivate. But you have to be quick because it's right at the top and the list of credits start's scrolling immediately. Annoys the heck out of me.
Having Admin rights to your PC is not the same as Run As Administrator on an app. It's one of the (many) changes to the Vista and Win7 OSs intended to prevent malicious software from gainin a foothold.
If you're in a corporate IT environment chances are you don't have admin rights to your PC because that prevents people from willy nilly installing apps on their own workstations. However, a good IT Support dude (who usually all DO have admin rights to everyone's computer) can usually configure the security privileges for a particular application to give you admin rights to it.
In the case of Captivate 5x and Win7, the app MUST be set up to Run As Administrator. Otherwise some things just don't work.

I am trying to add a hard disk but keep getting an error message to add null disk

I am trying to add a hard disk but keep getting an error message to add null disk. How do I fix this problem?

When installing a new OSX, it is not unusual that some applications will not work. You have to check with the developer to see if they have upgraded to the new OSX or find a substitute application.
In regards to your new HDD, most of the time they come formatted for Windows, not Mac. Connect the HDD to your MBP and open Disk Utility>Erase. To make it compatible, select 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the format. Click on the Erase button. You then should be able to read and write to it.
Ciao.

When I run Verify Disk Permissions I get something that can not be repaired.

When I run Verify Disk Permissions I get something that can not be repaired. The message I get is
Permissions differ on “Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/Safari.help/Contents/Resources/inde x.html”; should be lrwxr-xr-x ; they are -rwxr-xr-x .
When I run a repair disk permissions it does not get rid of this.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

aquilafisher --
I would recommend that you don't waste your time with "Verify." Go straight to "Repair Permissions."
The chances are excellent that you will get that one advisory, and at the end it will say "Repair Permissions Completed."
There are lots of those notations that will seem to us everyday users as an "error." But it's just noted changes.
If after running "Repair" it says "Repair Permissions Could Not be Completed," that's the only time you ned to worry.
And, I totally agree with what Niel said. Sorry, did not see his reply when I poster.

My ipod keeps getting corrupted and I have to reset it

My ipod keeps getting corrupted, and I have to keep resetting it. I have owned four ipods. Yes that's right. Four. I have been returning them but every single one does this. It is the same every time. I press the middle button when "Music" is selected, and the device completely shuts off when I do this and goes to the Apple icon. If I press play, then it will play songs, but only at random, and I cannot access my playlists. I have to reset the ipod to fix this problem. What's going on with this?
ipod Nano Windows XP

Im not sure EXACTLY what would cause this, but if you have had 4 nanos do the exact thing, its either a issue with the nanos being sold at the place your getting them at, like the local store in your area, or its a issue with your PC. I know some people report a issue with a certain malware program that sneaks on there system and causes havoc with the iPod service and in turn causes weird things with there pod.
The iPOd Service is a program that runs in the background of windows and, in basic terms, acts like the "Middle guy" translating things from the PC to the pod.
Scan your system for any viruses with a antivirus program and scan for malware with Ewido http://www.ewido.net/en/download Then download install and run the latest iPod updater on your nano here http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/

Permissions Keep Getting Screwed up: WHY?

I upgraded my MacMini from 10.4.11, which I'd used for years, to 10.5.8 recently. In the final analysis, I shouldn't have. Although more and more applications I want to run seem to now require at least 10.5, I should've forgone the desire to use them.
Aside from the fact that my MacMini simply does not have enough horsepower to handle 10.5, I've had nothing but problems with 10.5 that I never had with 10.4.
For one, the permissions are ALWAYS screwing up on their own. Why the heck do the permissions for Front Row.app (which I've never used) in Core Services always get messed up? Every time I run Disk Warrior, I get a looong page of repaired permissions, from the IOUSB Family.kext extensions to the aforementioned Front Row, to AppleShare, to Spotlight, JavaPlugIn, XQuery, the list goes on. It's ridiculous.
It's not like I'm digging into my System or Library folders, or running dozens of applications at once. My handicapped hardware keeps me from doing that.
I can understand needing to run "Repair Permissions" occasionally, like after doing a System Update or some other major upgrade, but to find this cr*p happening a couple of times a week? What's going on?

Permissions you can ignore on 10.5 and 10.6:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?viewlocale=en_US
Using 'should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r--' as an example, you will see the that the permissions are not changed, but the | indicates a different location. This is because an update to Leopard changed the location of a number of system components.
As long as you see, "Permissions Repair Complete" when it's finished... you're done.
If you are running Panther or Tiger:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA21090

Why do my disk permissions keep changing?

can someone please tell me how the permissions on my Macbook keep geting corrupted under normal use? have been programming and traching UNIX in some form or another since 1983. I have never seen anything like the conditions in OS X where this happens continually.
The disk repair messages seem absolutely bogus. Ho can something be listed as a file rw-r--r-- aand then say it is supposed to be a Directory! (drw-r--r--)
There has to be some kind o bug or OS X developers are very lax with their install/modificaton scripts.
Can someone enlighten me on this??
Ed Kenny

I would seriously like to know the answer to this as well.
I never had a problem until recently. I am running 10.8.3, but have been for some time now.
A few weeks ago, I had an issue with permissions, came to the forum, saw someone's suggestion to "get info" and change the permission level. Somehow my name had been removed entirely and it was under something else like guest or something.
Tonight, I am working on labeling and moving some of my son's vacation photos - photos first installed over a year ago. I have been working on this folder and these photos, opening, viewing, moving, renaming etc. for 2 days - the same origin folder - with NO problem. Tonight, suddenly, several photos in, the next 3 photos in line say I don't have permission. It suggests I do "get info" and change the permissions. I do this, and there I am, my user name clear as day with both read AND write permissions already! I have read and write permissions visible for both these photos as well as the folder itself and even the dang hard drive and still it isn't letting me access MY files!
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.8.3).

Repairing disk permissions keeps giving same message

I routinely verify my HD and repair disk permissions. The latter often indicates repairs are needed, especially after installation of new software or updates (I repair before and after). But once repaired, if I verify the permissions they come out ok -- i.e., no repairs are needed. Until just recently. I am now getting the following message after repairing permissions:
Verify permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions differ on ./private/var/log/secure.log, should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r-----
Permissions verification complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
If I verify permissions after repairing this, I get the same message again. So the repair is not holding. I am running OS X 10.4.11 and I recall that on earlier OS's there were sometimes innocuous repairs that kept being required, but that were not really a problem. But under 10.4.11 a repair has usually been good, and clears the deck. Until now. Any ideas?
Update: I am no longer having this problem. Possibly I was clicking on the verify permissions button instead of the repair button. I have used DU many times, so this would be a fairly boneheaded thing to do at this point. Maybe familiarity breeds carelessness? In any event, I often get the message above when I check disk permissions, and I would be curious to know why it is one of the more common repairs needed. So let's make that my question instead...
TIA
Message was edited by: Drake Bradley

Not to worry about it, that secure.log is a common one for that.
Repair Permissions checks Library>Receipts to find out the proper Permissions, that file's Permissions may exist in more than one and/or some OS component doesn't know the new/latest permissions when using it.

Cert8.db keeps getting corrupt?

I get this message all the time?
Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features.
The only way I have found to fix this is deleting the cert8.db file. This is happening so often that I can no longer use FF anymore. Why is this file getting corrupt? I have plenty of disk space on this machine so that is not an issue.

see : [[Fix the "Could not initialize the application's security component" error message|Fix the "Could not initialize the application's security component" error message]]

HT1560 If diagnostics says appletv is working properly, why does the install keep getting stuck on pairing with the computer then back to select resolution over and over.

First gen Appletv suddenly stopped working from one night to the next. This has happened in the past once and the usual restore, reboot, etc, tinkering finally snapped it back into working quite unexpectadly. The symptom is, after restore when it gets to the screen to pair with itunes by entering the numbers in itunes, the number is briefly up on the tv screen and then quickly is gone returning to the select resolution page. This happens over and over with each try while the Appletv never shows up in itunes and the number box never appears either to pair the computer with the Appletv. It does the same thing with my intel macbook so I don't think it's the Imac. I have dumped itunes 10 and reloaded itunes 9 with no change in the problem. My IP scanner picks up that the Appletv is on our network as soon as it turns on. I have used wireless, which it finds and logs into, and ethernet which also has it finding my network. I can't test whether it is actually on the network by trying to play a trailer or something because it will not go past that pairing screen in the initial setup. Are the built in diagnostics reliable when they say your appletv is working correctly. The hard drive isn't making any exceptionally loud noise as it spins up. I am stuck with this unit because I use it with a G4 Imac running Tiger 10.4 for a video/audio jukebox at the bar. New ATV won't work with the Imac unless it's running leopard I believe. The thing runs like molasses already so attempting leopard which I don't have anyway would really make it crawl. I love a good mystery/problem but this thing is driving me crazy. If I just could know for sure what component inside was shot I would replace it. Could a hard drive boot up to a degree and then get stuck at one part of the install, or would it have to be the logic board, or something else. Bad juju in the house or something

Had same problem this finally stopped it for me.
FINDER
APPLICATIONS
UTILITIES
DISK UTILITY.app
select your main hardrive
REPAIR DISK PERMISSIONS
Message said repairing estimated time 1minute, yeah okay we all know how accurate those are process took about 5 minutes with nothing showing then all of a sudden printer permission repaired notations were flying onto screen in actions box. Do restart for heck of it sign on and so far no message has apeared where it did regularly. I hope this is indeed the fix. In meantime it never hurts to fix permissions so give it a try.
George in NY

When I repair disk permissions I get the following:Repairing permissions for "MacIntosh HD" Determining correct file permissions. Permissions differ on ./Library/Widgets, should be drwxr-xr-x , they are drwxrwxr-x Owner and group corrected on ./Library/W

Repairing permissions for “MacIntosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions differ on ./Library/Widgets, should be drwxr-xr-x , they are drwxrwxr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./Library/Widgets
Permissions corrected on ./Library/Widgets
Permissions differ on ./System/Library/User Template, should be drwx------ , they are drwxr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./System/Library/User Template
Permissions corrected on ./System/Library/User Template
Group differs on ./usr/bin/fetchmail, should be 0, group is 6
Permissions differ on ./usr/bin/fetchmail, should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-sr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/bin/fetchmail
Permissions corrected on ./usr/bin/fetchmail
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/php/build/Makefile.global, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/Makefile.global
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/Makefile.global
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/php/build/acinclude.m4, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/acinclude.m4
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/acinclude.m4
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/php/build/mkdep.awk, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/mkdep.awk
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/mkdep.awk
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/php/build/phpize.m4, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/phpize.m4
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/phpize.m4
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/php/build/scan_makefile_in.awk, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/scan_makefile_in.awk
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/php/build/scan_makefile_in.awk
Permissions differ on ./usr/lib/system/libmathCommon.A.dylib, should be -r-xr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/lib/system/libmathCommon.A.dylib
Permissions corrected on ./usr/lib/system/libmathCommon.A.dylib
Permissions differ on ./usr/libexec/dumpemacs, should be -r-sr-xr-x , they are -r-xr-xr-x
Owner and group corrected on ./usr/libexec/dumpemacs
Permissions corrected on ./usr/libexec/dumpemacs
Permissions repair complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Then I sometimes get the brown screen that states,You must re-start your computer.
I have already zeroed out the hard drive and re-installed Panther and the upgrade Tiger disc.
I repair permissions using the Tiger disc upgrade.
Can anyone help me with this??

> I repair permissions using the Tiger disc upgrade.
One thing to note... When running Repair Disk Permissions, it is best to run it while started up normally, from your normal startup disk, not from a Mac OS X installation disc. The only time you should run it while started up from an installation disc is if some problem is preventing you from starting up normally. OTOH, Repair Disk can only be used when starting up from a different disk (such as an installation disc).
So, I would start up normally, run Disk Utility, and use Repair Disk Permissions on your normal startup disk.
NOTE: Repair Disk Permissions often gives alerts messages that can be ignored. They are more "informational," not serious errors.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448
You should still run it periodically. When you run it, what needs to be repaired has been repaired; consider the rest of it an FYI. I've never experience a problem, where a Repair Disk Permissions message actually caused a problem. But, if you ever get an error while running Repair Disk (or Verify Disk), that is usually a serious problem.

Why does Disk Utility keep breaking my partition table?

I have two drives in my Mac Mini - the original drive it came with, and a SSD drive. I dual boot from the SSD drive and it is fine. On my original drive, I still have the original Lion install, but I would like to add a NTFS partition for use by windows. The problem is that every single time I have Disk Utility try to do something to it, like delete a partion, it breaks the partition table. It does delete the partition, but then it goes and sets all the partition types to 07 (Microsoft BAsic) instead of AF (Apple HFS). Then Disk utility will claim the disk is broken and can't mount the partitions anymore. I have to go in with gdisk to set the partition type back to AF and it will start working again. BTW, gdisk claims the partition table type is hybrid MBR, even though windows is not installed on it. Diskutil thinks it is GUID. I did create a partition on it from the windows side once if that means anything.
Now what I want to do is resize the HFS partition, but I am deathly afraid that DU will break something that isn't as easy to fix.

I repaired permissions because I reinstalled Epson drivers, and reinstalling Epson drivers has given me a permissions problems in the past which was cured by running permission repair. As it is an easy prophylactic step to take, I did it again.
It may not be needed, but that is not the issue, which is why, when the permissions are indicated as repaired, are they not.
Other previous posts on this issue suggest that these indications of permissions not being repaired should be ignored, so the report made by Disk Utility is simply a programming error.
Disk Utility needs some work if it is going to respond to usage by a typical average user this way.

Why do disk permissions keep getting corrupted?

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