Repairing Permissions - not working

I've been having some issues with my MacBook Pro (performance and applications crashing), and have tried repairing permissions, but when I do this twice in a row, there continues to be permissions it repairs (I assume that if you do it once, then the second time there should be nothing to repair).

Any suggestions for next steps?

Thanks
Gord

You would assume wrong.
There are a great many permissions that will not be changed.

Permissions you can safely ignore.


Don't ask me why. Don't have a clue why they don't fix this with one of the updates.
After 4 years on a Mac now, I've given up hope on that.

I would add. When you scan/examine your hard drive for permissions issues...what you don't want is a longgg list of permissions problems. If you do, you repair permissions.

If after repairing permissions you have a couple unresolved issues...this is not big deal.

If after repairing permissions your computer still seems slow & applications crash...then the issue must lie somewhere else.

- Nick

jam2000 said:

issues with my MacBook Pro (performance and applications crashing)

Click to expand...

I've never seen any competent Tech recommend repairing permissions for those issues. As has been said, it doesn't do much...

On the other hand, repairing the hard drive is always recommended:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

gsahli said:

I've never seen any competent Tech recommend repairing permissions for those issues. As has been said, it doesn't do much...

On the other hand, repairing the hard drive is always recommended:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Click to expand...

This may be true. I read a big article on the pointlessness of repairing permissions right after I got my first Mac by some supposed Mac guru. I bought into the idea that it does nothing to repair issues and didn't do so for about two years.

Over the course of 4 years, and if you figure I've read only 5-10 posts for every post I have just on this forum...When I saw it fix minor annoyances I had on my own machine and others that just shouldn't even be affected by doing so. It was often enough, that it has become one of the things I recommend. It certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Will say, I don't do it on my own machine unless there is a problem I'm working on.

Some years ago I read an article which explained that repairing permissions was, most of the time, a complete waste of time. I checked with Apple and they they said they wouldn't disagree but it was sometime useful as a last resort if things got really fouled up! Since then, I've left it alone.

There seem to be a number of people who, in my opinion, incorrectly think that repairing permissions is the panacea to all problems.

When you have a problem...and you're trying to fix it in the comfort of your own home without having to lug your computer to a repair place & pay big bucks to a repair person...I say try anything you can (as long as it won't cause any harm).

When I use Disk Utility and scan my hard drive...and I get a list of 5, 10, 20, or more "permissions errors"...and I have a "button" that says "Repair Permissions"...it's a tool I have at my disposal...so why not use it.

I generally recommend repairing permissions when a user seems to be suffering from "slowness issues". I'm thinking that when permissions are not as they should be...the operating system is "confused" and is working harder to try to resolve things.

If permissions are as they should be (after using Disk Utility's "Repair Permissions" feature)...the OS is able to work more efficiently...and thus the computer runs faster.

Here are a few links to read regarding repairing permissions:

Repair permissions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature
Repairing permissions: What you need to know | Utilities - Page 1 | Macworld

- Nick

I was having KPs a while back and after trying several things, repairing disk permissions corrected the issue. It is very possible that permissions get changed on system files which can complicate things. I would suggest it as a first step for someone having non-memory related KPs but not for slowness (either you can read/write the file or you can't - either it works or it doesn't).

I'm with Nick though - if it's there, may as well use it once in a while. I usually correct them through OnyX though.

I'm with Nick though - if it's there, may as well use it once in a while. I usually correct them through OnyX though.

Click to expand...

Same here. Also, for those stubborn ACL permission errors that won't go away I use the handy "ACLr8" utility which clears them up.