Repairing Permissions - 1 Day 5 hrs ... (!)

[Mikeo1938]

My MPB slowed down and I got the beach ball so I ran Disk Utility. The disk verified OK, and then I did 'repair permissions', something which I've done from time to time, with the most recent a couple of weeks back.

However, it started out showing 18 hours; then 1 day and 5 hours! How could things have got this bad? Has something terrible happened?

With Tiger, I used MacJanitor from time to time, but not so long ago I read that Leopard doesn't need much in the way of regular maintenance ... (?)

Is there something like MacJanitor which I should be using?

Comments greatly appreciated ...

M

 

[TattooedMac]

Yea thats not right Mikeo .... You do need something to go a little deeper than Disk Utility.

Try out MainMenu my personal favourite .. Or Oynx.
If you go the MM way and you get to cleaning with it, once you get to Batch Tasks make sure everything is highlighted, except Spotlight Reindex and Remove .DS_Store Files and you should be well on your way ... Give them ago and post back if still have problem ...

Cheers

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks very much.

Disk Utility went up to 1 day and 8 hours; now back to 1 day and 5 hours. (Unfortunately, my wife shut the lid when it was at 18 hours and I guess that stopped the process.)

But should I not persist with Disk Utility rather than quit in mid-stream?

Also, are things not now in such a mess that I won't be able to intsall/download/use the utilities that you mention? I have used Onyx before with my iBook (Tiger) and so I'm rather more familiar with that.

If I use Onyx, what should I call up, assuming that it downloads and installs OK?

VMT in advance ...

M

 

[hughvane]

I've found that OnyX tends to go deeper into the OS to run its mysterious maintenance tasks.

Skip Disk Utility, OnyX should pick up what hasn't been completed.

In OnyX, repair permissions, and run maintenance scripts. You can also optimize the System, Start with Update only, and if that doesn't solve the issues you're experiencing, you might want to consider a complete optimization.

If OnyX doesn't deal with the issues, it might be time to a) use Disk Warrior, the most powerful of Mac utilities, or b) replace the hard drive.

 

[harryb2448]

Boot from your system install disk, go into utilities and run Repair Disk as you do seem to have serious, if not fatal, hard drive problems. You cannot repair a drive you are bootedf from. Of course you do have the Leopard install DVD?

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks to everyone for the help.

I went out yesterday leaving ‘repair permissions’ running from the MPB’s own HD. When I got home, it had finished but there was no improvement. This morning, I used Disk Utility from the installation disk, as suggested. The disk came up with the “appears to be OK” message. Then I ran repair permissions again and I was left with these two messages:-

“usr/share/derby” has been repaired

(But who/what is “derby”?)

“SUID file system/library/core SVCS/Remote Management/ARD Agent.app/Contents MacOS/ARD Agents” has been modified and will not be repaired

(What is the significance of that?)

The MPB seems to have speeded up; this is most noticeable with Word. However, I’ve not yet tried all the applications.

So I guess I’d better get Onyx. Or should I go for Disk Warrior? But does the latter also do the routine stuff, or is it just needed for serious trouble?

I’d be grateful for comments on the above. Renewed thanks …

M

 

[6string]

These 2
“usr/share/derby” has been repaired


“SUID file system/library/core SVCS/Remote Management/ARD Agent.app/Contents MacOS/ARD Agents” has been modified and will not be repaired

are to be safely ignored!

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448

Onyx will do the routine stuff and a bit more..... where as Disk Warrior is for serious trouble!

As long as everything appears to be ok now, all is good..... so just use OnyX for regular maintenance and cleaning

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks very much ... I'll get Onyx today.

I checked the link and saw the reference to the long message; but I'm still wondering about the first one (usr/share/derby) ... (?)

M

 

[6string]

It refers to an old directory that no longer exists due to a Snow Leopard software update, so it comes up with an error that will always come up.
These errors come up when items are moved of changed in someway, and by the time we get to the last 10.6.x update, and move to 10.7 there are likely to be many more come up.
Seriously not worth doing your head in over (as I have many times).
As long as everything is working fine, and you run regular maintenance and keep regular backups, there is no need for concern!

 

[Mikeo1938]

All fine and all noted.

Your help is greatly appreciated ...

M

 

[6string]

A pleasure on all that behalf of all that contributed including myself.
Just glad that all is well.... A happy Mac user is what a Mac user should be

 

[Mikeo1938]

My MPB was OK after Disk Utility had done its work but I've now downloaded Onyx, as recommended, and had it do another 'repair permissions'. Onyx gave the same results, I was glad to see.

I then had Onyx do 'cleaning' ... is there another regular maintenance task which I should carry out with it?

Finally, I have an external HD which is partitioned for (a) Clone with SuperDuper and (b) Time Machine. This has been working for a couple of months but I've not done any maintenance thus far.

Should I now let Onyx do its stuff with the external HD? And, if so, take the above two partitions one at a time?

Thanks in advance ...

M

 

[6string]

Nope...... just OnyX every few months or so on your internal HD.
As for the external, just backup with Time Machine and Clone when you know everything is all good. There is no need for external maintenance, as the idea is that you are backing up a clean working system when you are.
The only time I do my clones and Time Machine backups is before I make major changes to my system, so I have a fallback if I don't like what I've done.
Don't overthink what to do, as it's not a Windows OS, and you don't need to, as long as you do the most basic of maintenance every now and then

 

[Mikeo1938]

All understood ... VMT for your help.

M

 

[6string]

Pleasure

6S