Hey Guys/ Gals managed to screw up my permissions, nothing works AT ALL

[MWPULSE]

Hey all.
I have successfully managed to screw up my permissions on both of my macs (mac mini 06, and MBP Sept 08). I was trying to get my macs to talk to each other via ethernet- i created a sharing account on both machines and added it to the permissions in get info. In theory i would then be able to copy stuff whereever i wanted. However i must of done sommat wrong. I now cant boot up my macbook pro. I have it booted up in target disk mode, but of course cos my mac mini is all screwed up as well, it cant repair the permissions and damages.

I would try using the DVDs but im rather scared if i do, i will screw up both machines!!

The message i get when trying to repair permissions (using main menu ) is included.

Help please??

Thanks
PTP

 

[old-wiz]

Just boot from the OSx install DVD and select disk utility and repair permissions. that should do the trick.

 

[patrick0brien]

old-wiz is correct, it's not as scary as you may think. Boot from it, it'll ask the language, you enter it, then stop.

(here's where my memory get fuzzy) Go to the Menu "Utilities", select (it's a bit misleading) something like "File Vault" or something like it. Within that is a "Reset Volume Permissions" (or something). It's by user, go through each user and reset.

Done.

You'r boot time should be noticeably faster afterward.

 

[MWPULSE]

And what If after trying the cd thing the laptop still won't boot
then what should I try? I just tried resetting the permissions etc but it still
won't boot it won't even recognise it when. I press and hold cmd/apple key

any thing else I can try?
Thanks alot peeps I'm running out of options here tried everything in my arsenal

PTP

 

[patrick0brien]

And what If after trying the cd thing the laptop still won't boot
then what should I try? I just tried resetting the permissions etc but it still
won't boot it won't even recognise it when. I press and hold cmd/apple key

any thing else I can try?
Thanks alot peeps I'm running out of options here tried everything in my arsenal

PTP

Have you tried holding the shift for Safe Boot?

How about option? This should give you the choice of startup volume.

I would suggest at this point to clone your machine (if you can get it into Safe Mode), wipe the internal drive, reinstall, and migrate your user accounts from that clone. I know it's a bit windows-ey, but it sounds like there is a critical 'NIX service that has gone MIA.

 

[Consultant]

Have you tried holding the shift for Safe Boot?

How about option? This should give you the choice of startup volume.

I would suggest at this point to clone your machine (if you can get it into Safe Mode), wipe the internal drive, reinstall, and migrate your user accounts from that clone. I know it's a bit windows-ey, but it sounds like there is a critical 'NIX service that has gone MIA.

Service didn't go "MIA". The OP killed it.

Yes I would do archive and install. Or this way.

 

[patrick0brien]

Service didn't go "MIA". The OP killed it.

-Consultant

I was trying to be nice.

-MWPULSE

Consultant has a good recommendation if you do not have an external volume you can clone to.

I'm very concerned as to what landed you in this position in the first place. It's pretty hard to foul up OS X like you mention in an ordinary Administrator account.

Can I ask you to try to list, in detail the steps you went through that got you here? I get the impression we're missing something here.

Also, when you do get things back up and running, let's talk about how you can do what you wanted to in the first place Using a special user account for open sharing sounds overly complex.

 

[Consultant]

-Consultant

I was trying to be nice.

-MWPULSE

Consultant has a good recommendation if you do not have an external volume you can clone to.

I'm very concerned as to what landed you in this position in the first place. It's pretty hard to foul up OS X like you mention in an ordinary Administrator account.

Can I ask you to try to list, in detail the steps you went through that got you here? I get the impression we're missing something here.

Also, when you do get things back up and running, let's talk about how you can do what you wanted to in the first place Using a special user account for open sharing sounds overly complex.

Well I believe in tough love. =p

Happens a lot with windows people trying to share the whole drive by changing permission of the whole drive to read / write, because they don't know how permissions work in unix (hint, don't change it if you don't know what it does).

Yes exactly. No need for an additional user account for sharing.

 

[MWPULSE]

heheh thanks alot guys.. i realise that some of the stuff i have done isnt the cleverest!! but honest im intelligent guy! haha. anyways here goes (some of the details are a bit hazy but its basically all there) Consultant btw- you were in the right ballpark with me killing my OS!! hah

I have a mac mini, and a macbook pro 15.4-not the unibody. On the mac mini i have 4 different external partitions of one external drive- series, movies, time machine, and OS backup- extreme stripped out so i can go straight back to basic when and if required, on the macbook pro i have a 320gb WD passport for Time Machine and A FAT32 to transfer to windows etc)

Both the machines with the latest leopard-10.5.7 and all the odd bobs on top.. anyways i was trying to get them to talk to each other easier, so i can copy music/movies/files in a simpler fashion. So i made gave both computers a sharing account as i assumed that was the way that its done (obviously not right!?) i set the sharing account to be called network so i could differentiate between that and my own personal account. I should also point out that i set up an admin account (to administrate the computer- so i have to put in a password to install stuff, and change things that are secondarily essential to my account)

So I made all drives on both machines read/write for this network/sharing account. Which i then guess made the OS unreadable to well the OS.

I have now created a separate partition on the FAT32 drive or the OS Backup depending which machine you are looking at. and im in the process of trying to get all the essential data off my OSe's before i nuke it and start again. I have come to the conclusion that the OSe's are not particularly useable no more..

I have tried to use disk utility in the Separate partition and straight off the DVD but the boot drives still wont boot. So im rather baffled.

Just some quick questions now that my circumstances are known, would it be possible to get the stuff off my drives (particularly Series, Movies) that took absolutely ages to get together and i wouldnt really like to have to go and find the dvds, and films again!!

How can i set up admin accounts on both machines but still be able to copy movies to and fro, not just that but music-logic files etc etc (and to an external drive of my choice..

I wouldnt consider myself a Windows user, I hated windows when i used it. I have been using macs for 4/5 years now.

Thanks for the tough love!! tis muchly appreciated i never was much of a coding/computer programming geek- any unix tips for me??

EDIT: wow just realised how long that is.. sorry about that!!

 

[Cositc]

I'm not sure what i'm going to post will help but what you need to do is get in to your computer and change your settings right. if so you could try to set up a new defualt admin acc.

Step 1: Boot in single user mode (Single user mode bypasses the GUI, which is all the visual stuff, and gives you something called "root access") by pressing Command + S (Apple+S) when the first shade of blue appears on the screen, and holding it down until the screen turns black with white text.

Step 2: Wait for all the code stuff to load. Now, the first thing we need to do in single user mode is mount the hard drive so we can edit it. You enter this command in : /sbin/mount -uw /

It should say something about removing orphaned unlinked files.

Step 3: We are going to delete a little file that tells your computer every time you start up that you've completed the setup by entering this command: rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

It should just bump down, waiting for the next command if it worked.

Step 4: Now type, reboot

Step 5: It should shut down and reboot. Than, a setup window will appear, asking you what language you want your computer to be in, just like you see when you setup a newly purchased Mac.

Step 6: Setup the computer. Select "DO NOT TRANSFER MY DATA". Don't worry, all your old stuff will still be there. Choose your internet connection and network, here is where you need your WEP or security password if you have one.

Step 7: Create a new local account to administer that computer. You usually want to enter the name of the computer as the longname, and the shortname what you'll log in as. Say your computer's old name was "Frank's Computer", than just put Frank as the longname, because it will automatically as " 's Computer" at the end. MAKE SURE THAT BOTH USERNAMES ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE EXSISTING ONES, OTHERWISE IT WILL OVERWRITE.

Step 8: Finish the setup, and you should automatically be logged into your new administrator account.
Hope this helps

 

[patrick0brien]

-MWPULSE

Impressive architecture, but is sounds a bit overly complex. And yes, the permissions reset probably did foob something up that was unprotected. I feel you are correct that wipe and reinstall will get you back to the vanilla you need on both machines. And it sounds like you have a partition that could enable you to perform the Clone-and-Migrate method. Good.

Let’s look at this in Phases (If Consultant is really one in real life, he’ll laugh at this approach)

Phase I: Return to Vanilla

Task 1: Clone Machine #1 to partition, with “Repair Permission” set. I recommend Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) as this will NOT transfer ACLs which I believe is part of your issue.
Task 2: Wipe Machine #1 (I do mean “Wipe” with Disk Utility, write all sectors to “0”)
Task 3: Reinstall Leopard to Machine #1
Task 4: Migrate you “normal” user accounts, settings, files, apps, etc. Don’t migrate goofy accounts like the ‘share’ account.
Task 5: Confirm all is well on Machine #1 by reboot.
Task 6: Software Update it.

Task 7: Clone Machine #2 to partition, with “Repair Permission” set.
Task 8: Wipe Machine #2
Task 9: Reinstall Leopard to Machine #2
Task 10: Migrate you “normal” user accounts, settings, files, apps, etc. Again, don’t migrate goofy accounts.
Task 11: Confirm all is well on Machine #2
Task 12: Software Update it.

Task 13: Once vanilla is reestablished, wipe the clone partition.

Now we’re ready for…

Phase II: Connecting

I’m assuming your credentials of your primary user accounts on both machines are the same. If not, you’ll need to create one on the machine of your choice, transfer the files from one account to the other, and mess with the Permissions on that account – we can talk about this later if this is necessary. OR, you can migrate the account from the other...

Task 1: Confirm networking – connect one machine to the other using cmd-shift-K, and login as “Registered User” Enter credentials, and have the keychain remember them.
Task 2: Do the same from the other machine.
Networking established! Using a share user in the way you mentioned is a bit like going in through your bottom to scratch your nose, dirty, messy, smelly, very uncomfortable, but possible – in theory.

You don’t need a FAT32 partition to network to Windows, just the credentials. Using the same method above. Though I find logging into OS X from the Windows box easier, Windows is a bit weird on the reverse.

You can use Chronosync to keep the master accounts of both machines in sync.

Did I miss anything?

Cositc's method sounds interesting, I haven't tried it myself, but since you are in a position to try, you could give it a shot before you try the above method.

 

[MWPULSE]

I'm not sure what i'm going to post will help but what you need to do is get in to your computer and change your settings right. if so you could try to set up a new defualt admin acc.

Step 1: Boot in single user mode (Single user mode bypasses the GUI, which is all the visual stuff, and gives you something called "root access") by pressing Command + S (Apple+S) when the first shade of blue appears on the screen, and holding it down until the screen turns black with white text.

Step 2: Wait for all the code stuff to load. Now, the first thing we need to do in single user mode is mount the hard drive so we can edit it. You enter this command in : /sbin/mount -uw /

It should say something about removing orphaned unlinked files.

Step 3: We are going to delete a little file that tells your computer every time you start up that you've completed the setup by entering this command: rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

It should just bump down, waiting for the next command if it worked.

.... Am i correct in the assumption that this process doesnt require gigs and gigs of copying? if so i might give it a whack. Thanks a bunch Cositcs and Patrick and consultant as well

 

[MWPULSE]

Hi There just another quick note, would my removing the OS and then copying the user accounts and other bits and bobs then allow me to access my external drives, with my movies and series on? even from the root computer.. (im essentially using my mac mini as a media centre/server)

PTP

 

[patrick0brien]

Hi There just another quick note, would my removing the OS and then copying the user accounts and other bits and bobs then allow me to access my external drives, with my movies and series on? even from the root computer.. (im essentially using my mac mini as a media centre/server)

PTP

-MWPULSE

I can't think of a reason why you cant. Permissions are User based, and on remote partitions, connected by network or direct, doesn't matter as much, as there is no user account being read from that location.

 

[MWPULSE]

ok.. i have managed to get Leopard OS on both the machines now, im just in the process of migrating the users over to my mac mini (using my MBP atm) the 2 EXT HDs come up with a little lock in the left hand corner. When i try to open up either ext HD it says a lil message about user permissions being incorrect. How would i fix this? using disk utility and permissions repair correct. Or do i boot up with the DVD and do it that way??

Cheers again patrick

PTP