Disk Permissions question

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Hi there.

I've been having quite a few problems with my new MBP (I'm a recent switcher), and another thread recommended that checking and repairing the disk permissions might be a good idea. I verified the permissions, repaired them and verified them again. Below is what came out. I'm just curious if the problems it found are unusual and anything to worry about, or whether a factory-installed OSX with a few other programs added to it could expect this sort of issue after 2 months?

Any advice you can chuck my way would be greatly appreciated - I must confess to a bit of buyer's remorse now that my MBP seems to be freezing or locking up with Windows XP like regularity...

Btw, I did a Verify Disk and everything seemed OK.

Thanks! :)

Verify permissions for “The Mac of Alex”
Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
Group differs on "Library/PreferencePanes", should be 0, group is 80.
Permissions differ on "Library/PreferencePanes", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are drwxrwxr-x .
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.4.2/Home/lib/jvm.cfg", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.4.2/Libraries/classlist", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Home/lib/jvm.cfg", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Libraries/classlist", should be 0, user is 95.

Permissions verification complete

Repairing permissions for “The Mac of Alex”
Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
Group differs on "Library/PreferencePanes", should be 0, group is 80.
Permissions differ on "Library/PreferencePanes", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are drwxrwxr-x .
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.4.2/Home/lib/jvm.cfg", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.4.2/Libraries/classlist", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Home/lib/jvm.cfg", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Libraries/classlist", should be 0, user is 95.

Permissions repair complete

Verify permissions for “The Mac of Alex”

Permissions verification complete
 
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Seems normal enough. ;) Some info about permissions.

You can get OnyX. Great for some maintenance and troubleshooting. (delete caches, run maintenance scripts, etc..)

Any particular problems you're having?
 
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alexknibb
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Seems normal enough. ;) Some info about permissions.

You can get OnyX. Great for some maintenance and troubleshooting. (delete caches, run maintenance scripts, etc..)

Any particular problems you're having?

Hi Soulwar. Thanks for the response. I've installed OnyX, and will have a good nose around it (it's a little scary for a Mac newbie!), so thanks for that link.

The problems I'm having are mostly to do with crashes and freezes, often from waking from sleep. I'm also having a few problems with iTunes (seemingly) freezing the OS, so I'm going to try reinstalling iTunes. I'm keeping an Excel log of each crash - what I've been doing at the time, programs running, etc - and once that's a little more populated I'll bring it back to these forums to see if anyone can spot the problem.

As most of my problems are freezes which require me to hit the power button, are there any log files I can consult to try and troubleshoot? Or is there any particular information you suggest I start recording in my Excel document?

Thanks again, :)
Al.
 
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Try looking for corrupt preference files. They can cause some of the problems you describe. Use this application.

For logs, use Console. They are time stamped also. (applications/Utilities) System Profiler has log info as well. (Utilities)

For basic troubleshooting, create a new user account. If the problem is gone, it would indicate something in your home folder. (usually, a corrupt preference file or .plist) same thing...
If the problem continues, it's likely something within the system itself. (System files, preference files outside of your home folder, corrupt apps, etc..)

And the system freezes you are having, which cause you to force restart, causes more problems. Starts to become a vicious little cicrle...
 
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alexknibb
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Thanks again!

What am I looking for in particular in the Console file?

I had a look at that application you suggested, and got the following results for user preferences (system prefs seem fine):

Preferential Treatment v1.1.8
by Jonathan Nathan
http://www.jonn8.com/

user preference report
Saturday, May 17, 2008 15:13:42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flagged Preference File:
/Users/alexanderknibb/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist

Problem(s):
Conversion of data failed. The file is not UTF-8, or in the encoding specified in XML header if XML.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wasn't running anything iphoto-related at the time, so I'm presuming that means everything is OK? Should I do anything to this file?

Would you suggest a clean install of OSX? I know a lot of people suggest doing this with a new machine anyway, but I didn't... Is it worth a punt?

Thanks again for all your help. :)
 
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For the preference file, you can delete it. The app will create a new one.

In console, look for the crash logs. It should say (usually) what caused it.

Sometimes a clean install can solve all your problems. Back up anything you want or need 1st. Also, remember, there may be pre-installed software. You can also use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
They will create bootable backups.
 

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