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How to unlock jpeg? Permissions = fetching!?

L

lemondrops

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2012
13
0
Devon, England
I hope you can help.

I seem to have a jpeg file which is locked and I cannot unlock it.

I went to Get Info and I cannot uncheck the Locked box.
Under Sharing & Permissions it says "Fetching"
screenshot.png


Any idea what has happened and how to fix this problem?
 
Last edited:
I see down at the bottom, that the only user/group that has write permissions to this file is "fetching...". I have read this has something to do with when you have upgraded your machine from earlier operating system, particularly, Tiger.

Anyway, click the "+" in the sharing and permissions and add yourself as "read & write". Or you could just give "staff" read and write and that will probably work.

If your account is not an admin, you may have to enter an admin password to change the permissions.


Edit: You might also try running a repair permissions from disk utility. Not sure if it will help or not, but won't hurt.
 
Last edited:
old-wiz said:
have you tried reboot first?
Click to expand...

I just tried reboot and nothing changed.

----------
ScoobyMcDoo said:
I see down at the bottom, that the only user/group that has write permissions to this file is "fetching...". I have read this has something to do with when you have upgraded your machine from earlier operating system, particularly, Tiger.

Anyway, click the "+" in the sharing and permissions and add yourself as "read & write". Or you could just give "staff" read and write and that will probably work.

If your account is not an admin, you may have to enter an admin password to change the permissions.
Click to expand...

This is a brand new Macbook Pro. I only just got it last week, new model, so it isn't an upgrade problem.

I tried to add myself (I am an admin) but I did not appear on the list of names.
I've also tried amending the privileges from read only to read & write but again nothing changed.

Sigh.
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
Did you try repair permissions?
Click to expand...

How do you repair permissions?

I've never had a Mac before so the system is still a bit new to me.

EDIT: I've just seen your addition to your previous post. I'm running a repair permissions now through Disk Utility. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
little bastard is being obstinate. Let's see if we can fix this with the command line. Fire up a terminal and type these commands:

Code: 
cd Music/Music/Compilations/End\ of\ the\ Road\ 2011\ Compilation
sudo chflags nochg WHITE\ HEAT\ POSTER.jpg
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
little bastard is being obstinate. Let's see if we can fix this with the command line. Fire up a terminal and type these commands:

Code: 
cd Music/Music/Compilations/End\ of\ the\ Road\ 2011\ Compilation
sudo chflags nochg WHITE\ HEAT\ POSTER.jpg
Click to expand...


I've typed in what you said and it has come up with this warning:

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.​

Is it okay to proceed?

b3338f19.png
 
Last edited:
Yes, it's ok to proceed.

Just so you know, the sudo command means "Swich User then DO". When no user argument is specified, it uses the "root' or "admin" user account, which has the ability to do anything you tell it to, thus the warning. You could do the command "sudo rm -rf /" and it would wipe out your entire drive, so they give you that warning the first time you use sudo just to make sure you know what you are doing. Of course, you may say to yourself "Hey I don't know what I am doing and I am putting complete trust in some random guy on the internet" Well .. yea you kinda are .. but trust me it's ok to proceed with this command.
 
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ScoobyMcDoo said:
Yes, it's ok to proceed.
Click to expand...

Done.
Came back with this:

chflags: invalid flag: nochg​

I've check the status of the jpg and no change, tried to add myself again and change the privileges but still no joy.

:confused:

It really isn't playing ball is it!

EDIT: Thanks for the explanation :) I'd wondered what the command meant. It is a little un-nerving playing around like this with a brand new Mac, especially since I don't know what I'm doing at all...but it would be nice to fix the problem.
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
My bad, the flag is "nouchg" (notice the added "u")
Click to expand...

Hurray!
I corrected the mistake and the file in now unlocked :)

Thank you very much!

The status of Sharing & Permissions still says "fetching" though, which is a bit odd. The other files in the same folder are all linked to me, so maybe it's just some sort of weird anomaly.
You don't think this will cause a problem further down the line do you?
 
lemondrops said:
Hurray!
I corrected the mistake and the file in now unlocked :)

Thank you very much!

The status of Sharing & Permissions still says "fetching" though, which is a bit odd. The other files in the same folder are all linked to me, so maybe it's just some sort of weird anomaly.
You don't think this will cause a problem further down the line do you?
Click to expand...

Glad you got it fixed.

I don't know much about the "fetching..." issue. I have never had it on my mac. I googled it and just skimmed a bit, but did not read enough to learn much. The discussion I saw was on the apple support forum, so you might do a search over there to get some more insight.
 
ScoobyMcDoo said:
Glad you got it fixed.

I don't know much about the "fetching..." issue. I have never had it on my mac. I googled it and just skimmed a bit, but did not read enough to learn much. The discussion I saw was on the apple support forum, so you might do a search over there to get some more insight.
Click to expand...

Thank you :)

Have a nice evening.
 
Unlocking jpeg? File Permissions. Real issue.

Hello. I have a similar issue to the problem referenced in the thread from Lemondrops. Appears that I have a jpeg that is locked. Folder is in my Dropbox directory on disk. (Accessed file manager for get info. Appears the file is locked.) Can't change the lock, greyed out. Would be happy to delete the file altogether. Can't move to Trash. Fetching, staff and everyone has "Read & Write" permissions. Well, everyone must not include the owner of this Macbook Pro for I even copied the file into another folder, changed the file to reflect "unlock" which worked successfully and then attempted to rewrite the "locked" folder that I couldn't change and the system disallowed a "replace".

I saw the Lemondrops thread with ScooByMcDoo and attempted to follow the thread instructions to adjust the file permissions but appear to be executing the file instruction incorrectly on the sudo command. Acknowledging that the sudo command could do some real damage, I have chosen to seek the help of those wiser than myself, perhaps even ScooByMcDoo if ScooByMcDoo is listening. Can anyone assist?
 
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