Need help with permissions for external HDD

[Tec972]

Hey all,

I am very new to OSX and permissions seem to be kicking my ass because I cannot even write to my own external hard drive. I had no problem on my first mac but that got returned and this is also a new machine but it's not working. Something got messed up along the way on this machine I guess??

Some how and I don't know how it is set for read only. I am the administrator on my own system. Nobody uses this mac except for me and I don't know why the permissions are screwed up. Is there a way to just reset everything so I have full control.

When I choose to get info for each volume on my external HDD it says I only have read only permission. There is no lock in the corner and no list for me to modify those perms.

I'm sure it's something fairly simple you guys will know.

 

[Hal Itosis]

Hey all,

I am very new to OSX and permissions seem to be kicking my ass because I cannot even write to my own external hard drive. I had no problem on my first mac but that got returned and this is also a new machine but it's not working. Something got messed up along the way on this machine I guess??

Some how and I don't know how it is set for read only. I am the administrator on my own system. Nobody uses this mac except for me and I don't know why the permissions are screwed up. Is there a way to just reset everything so I have full control.

When I choose to get info for each volume on my external HDD it says I only have read only permission. There is no lock in the corner and no list for me to modify those perms.

I'm sure it's something fairly simple you guys will know.

Try this in Terminal.app:

sudo chflags nouchg /Volumes/*; sudo chmod 775 /Volumes/*

An admin password will be requested, but *not* echoed to the screen when typed.

That (dual) command usually/potentially fixes 86% of the trouble users get themselves into. On the off-chance this case isn't so simple, we'll need to gather more detailed info.

E.g., show us the output from:

ls -alOe /Volumes

 

[Tec972]

Thanks. I will try that. All I have to do is copy that command into terminal I'm assuming? I am also wondering why in Accounts>advanced options I show up as staff under the group. Can anyone confirm if this is normal. I am thinking that might be part of the problem.

Thanks to anyone who can help

 

[LPZ]

Thanks. I will try that. All I have to do is copy that command into terminal I'm assuming? I am also wondering why in Accounts>advanced options I show up as staff under the group. Can anyone confirm if this is normal. I am thinking that might be part of the problem.

Thanks to anyone who can help

Make sure the drive is mounted, and then enter the command in Terminal. Being listed as staff under group is normal---at least, that's how it is for my admin account.

 

[Tec972]

Thanks LPZ.

I entered the command then got a warning about possible files being deleted so chickened out, but that is normal right?

 

[Hal Itosis]

I entered the command then got a warning about possible files being deleted so chickened out, but that is normal right?

You should copy/paste text from Terminal (or post a cropped screenshot), so we can see exactly what you saw. The first time a user runs sudo, a plain-text message is displayed... but all i recall about that is its mentioning ethical behavior.