Root user unable to change ownerships???

R

RobLines

Registered
Hi there. OS X 10.3.7 G5 tower.

I have a Lacie external drive used with a previous mac. It has a complete image of the old mac, but the user folder has a padlock on it and appears empty.

On the new mac I've logged in as root to change the ownership of the folder, but get:

The operation could not be completed.
An unexpected error occurred (error code -60002).

I did a test: As root I created a new blank folder on the hard disk, and attempted to give it the owner name of my normal log in - I got the same error...

So how can I change the ownerships/permissions of the folder, if root won't do it? Should I be worried that root is unable to change an ownership? Is it a sign of a bigger problem?

(Incidentally, I had trouble establishing the root password. Netinfo manager showed me what it was, but Login didn't accept it. In the end I had to "sudo passwd root" it to something fresh. However netinfo manager still shows the old (non-working) password. I understand that the root password is actually stored in a number of places - have I confused my computer? :-)

hope somebody can help - getting frantic!

best
rob
 
How did you copy from the old Mac? If you did not use Carbon Copy Cloner - or something similar, you do not have all the invisible files which are important.

I suggest you get the OS CD, start up the computer with it, then at the installer screen go to the Installer Menu and select Disk Utility. Have it scan all your drives. Then when done and you get the Okay, have it repair permissions.
 
Other than that: You can set harddrives other than the system drive to ignore privileges, maybe that's the case here? And: Why does everyone want to be "root"? Just ignore the root-user. You can do _eeeeverything_ as an admin.
 
> How did you copy from the old Mac?

Nothing has been copied from the old mac. All the files on the Lacie are from Silverkeeper backups from the old mac. So far, I haven’t migrated any data – mainly because I can’t see it/find it! J

> Are you changing permissions via the command line as root, or via the Get Info window as root?

Via get info.

> Other than that: You can set harddrives other than the system drive to ignore privileges, maybe that's the case here?

The Lacie drive is already set to ignore privileges.

I should also have mentioned that the info window shows the folder with the “locked” tickbox ticked, though it is greyed out, even as root user. Surely root user would have access to unlock the folder?

At the moment, I’m finding the root user is pretty un-superpowerful!

r
 
First up - have you checked & repaired the drive's permissions in Disk Utility like Cheryl suggested? Is this data backed-up anywhere? Is it valuable?

Get info used to be really crappy about changing ownerships and permissions - especially when applied recursively. I suppose it still is. You will be much better off using the terminal and a sudo command. Fryke's got a point: leave root alone - disable it even. When you need The Power - use sudo.
[Then again, having root enabled was the only way I used to be able to do any CUPS admin on my mixed up ole G4!]

I'm a bit of a bodger - take the following suggestions with a pinch of salt

(If somebody else could confirm a global change of permissions would do no harm - I'd appreciate it).

To accomplish a recursive change of ownership of all files on the LaCie drive from terminal with
Code: 
sudo chown -R yourusername /Volumes/Name_Of_LaCie_Volume/
(or "Name\ of\ LaCie\ Volume" if you have spaces in there)

As for the greyed out locked checkbox - it might come back on if you uncheck Ignore permissions.


Gabs-the-terminal-idot
 
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