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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Permissions repair not working

Tom Maberrry - Mar 4, 2008 - 12:47 pm

Im having a real problem. I have a G4 400mgh Mac with 256 SDRAM. We are running OSX 10.3.9. Our five year old granddaughter shut off the power to the computer when it was running. I restarted the computer and ran the repair permissions utility. It started up but after twenty minutes it still had not begun to make any repairs.I'm not sure of were to go from here. I never became to savvy with the operating system because I was friends with Bob Wood who was a Mactek who was registered with this site until his passing away this year. All I had to do was call him and he took care of the problem.I saw that there is a disk repair utility but I am not sure If I should run it or if it could corrupt any programs on the computer.If anyone can help me I would appreciate it.

Tom Maberry

MACBOY29 - Mar 4, 2008 - 2:01 pm

i cirtinally can help could i get some more details on the story so i can assist you

thanks,

Macboy29

Tom Maberrry - Mar 5, 2008 - 9:36 am

Macboy 29
Sorry I don't know what other information you may need. As I stated my granddaughter shut down the computer by shutting off the electricity from the surge protector. When I restarted the computer it seemed to take longer to start up. The only thing I could think to do was to run the permissions repair utility which did not make any repairs but was stuck in the checking permissions mode for more than twenty minutes. I think I'm really trying to find out what the Repair Disk button does and if I run it will it damage my third party programs such as Filemaker or Quicken. I have never ran Disk repair before only the Repair Permissions part of the utility. If you have any questions let me know and I will answer them as best that I can.

Thaqnks
Tom

MACBOY29 - Mar 5, 2008 - 10:12 am

wht type of mac do you have you can find this info in apple menu about this mac just tell me what processor you have and i will help you do a hardare test to see if that little area caused any issues with the system.

macboy29

Tom Maberrry - Mar 5, 2008 - 10:28 am

Macboy29
I am using a 400 MHz G4 Mac & running 10.3.9 OSX

Sorry I guess it helps to know what kind of computer I'm using

Tom

MACBOY29 - Mar 5, 2008 - 11:03 am

that's o.k. do you have the system disks for the machine if you do load the cd instead of the hard drive by inserting the first osx 10.3 cd into your drive . tonce it appears on your desktop make sure you are login as the main user or admin if there are any other users hold down optiion command and the power button this should reboot the mac as soon as you hear the start chime hold down the letter d key this should start u up in a dignostic mode from the cd rom as oposed to the hard drive run the dignostic test and let me know what happens one step at a time we will make sure there are no problems with the system hard ware wise that is shutting tdown the computer mid way like your granddaughter might hurt the compontes on the inside and i want to make sure everything is ok before closing this ticket off if you live in the toronto area in ontario canada i can give you my phone number and provide you with telephone assisstance if that would be helpful

Tom Maberrry - Mar 5, 2008 - 11:20 am

Thank you for the quick reply Macboy29.
I'm at work now, won't get to the problem computer till later tonight. Don't know how late you work, I could call you some time after 7 PM It might be good to have you talk me through the procedure if you haqve the time.

MACBOY29 - Mar 5, 2008 - 12:14 pm

i do have time if i could drive i would drive over and show you but my home number is 905-230-0804 i live in brampton ontario canada so i hope this is not long distance for you i do not stay up to late unless i have to.

macboy29

Tom Maberrry - Mar 5, 2008 - 1:44 pm

Hi Macboy29
I got the phone no. I'll call about 7 PM tonight no later than 7:30 PM. By the way I don't think you would want to drive down here I live in Philadelphia PA in the USA

Tom

Tom Maberrry - Mar 6, 2008 - 6:25 am

Macboy29
sorry I did not call last night. My mother in law passed away this past Saturday and my wife and I had to do some things last night for the funeral today. I'll get in touch with you later.

Tom

MACBOY29 - Mar 6, 2008 - 8:19 am

do not be sorryi know what it is like to loose a parrent i lost dad when i was 19 sorry to hear about your death in the family

TechSupport - Mar 11, 2008 - 3:00 pm

We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.

Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299073

Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.

Tom Maberrry - Mar 11, 2008 - 3:08 pm

MACBOY29
Sorry I did not get back to you sooner. The day of the funeral I came down with the flu. Well back to the problem. I tried to boot from the osx cd but it did not work. It started up on the harddrive.I do have the no one Install disc in. Is there a way topick it as the staart up disk like you could in OS9? I have noticed that the computer does not shut down now and the Dock is missing. I don't know if my E mail will be working as I am home on the problem computer. Try sending it to tmaberry@ghhcgroup.com
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 13, 2008 - 8:14 am

Have you tried to repair the disk?

Start your computer holding the ⌘ and S key on your keyboard. When the black screen turns up and the "writing" stops, you will see something like:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

If you wish to boot the system:
exit

:/ root#
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to check your filesystem, type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

and press the return key on your keyboard and wait for the process to finish. If any errors are found repeat the above mentioned command until you get something like:

** The volume some_name appears to be OK.

(The term "some_name" is just to indicate that I don't know the precise name). Now type:

exit

and hit the return key. Hopefully after some more terminal text your mac will boot into the login screen. Now you can check if this helped by logging in to your original user account and see if things are behaving normally.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 13, 2008 - 12:04 pm

Thank you for your sugestion tubajensen
I'll try it tonight. The problem is really getting to me. I just hope I don't mess it up more. I never tried to access Firmwere before.

Tom

tubajensen - Mar 13, 2008 - 6:42 pm

In the procedure described you will not be accessing or modifying firmware settings. You will just try to repair the filesystem.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 14, 2008 - 8:55 am

tubajensen

Your last post that I won't be modifying firmware is comforting. I appreciate your help. It has been sugested that I update any thing I noticed different with the computer. I tried a normal start-up last night because my wife said she started it up and was on the internet. I took a few minutes longer to start up than normal. I tried to open the e mail and filemaker but neither one opened up. When I tried to shut the computer down all that happened was that a disk of lines stayed on but the computer did not shut down in fifteen minutes. Should I still try the repair disk procedure. If yes I'll do it tonight.
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 14, 2008 - 9:09 am

If your computer won't shut down, just keep pressing the on/off button until it does. Thereafter I would try to repair the filesystem on the disk as described in one my former posts.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 15, 2008 - 2:25 pm

tubajensen
Boy I don't know if me and computers get along. After following your directions to repair disk, /sbin/fsck-fy the response was No such file or directory local host:/ root#. Uh I may have used the enter key instead of return. Can that make the difference? I'm really not this dumb just nervous

Tom Maberrry - Mar 15, 2008 - 3:18 pm

tubajensen
I forgot to say so but when i tried to use the delete key to delete what I typed in it would not delete the command. I am not shutting down the computer until i find out from you what I should do. By the way in order to contact you I have to go to my wife's office to use a computer then back home to try out any sugestion. Some times demands at home on my time don't allow me to get back to you right away. If something you suggest works out you will be the first to know. I don't want to waste your time.
Thank you
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 15, 2008 - 5:19 pm

I'm pretty sure you forgot the space between /sbin/fsck and -fy . It is very important that you type the commands exactly as written.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 16, 2008 - 11:32 am

tubajensen
You are right, I did not put in a space. How do I delete what I previously typed in.

Tom

tubajensen - Mar 16, 2008 - 11:44 am

Use the backspace (←) key on your keyboard.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 16, 2008 - 1:51 pm

tubajensen
I thought I tried that but the cursor did not move. I'll try again just in case I'm wrong. I'm begining to think I'm really as dumb as it seems.
Thanks for all you'r doing for me.
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 16, 2008 - 2:14 pm

Tom.

Maybe you should try to force quit the computer by pressing (and holding) the power button until it shuts down.

When it has shut down, start again pressing and holding the ⌘ and S key on your keyboard - as described earlier.

Start your computer holding the ⌘ and S key on your keyboard. When the black screen turns up and the "writing" stops, you will see something like:

--------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

If you wish to boot the system:
exit

:/ root#
--------------------------------------------------------------

Now to check your filesystem, type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

and press the return key on your keyboard and wait for the process to finish. If any errors are found repeat the above mentioned command until you get something like:

** The volume some_name appears to be OK.

(The term "some_name" is just to indicate that I don't know the precise name). Now type:

exit

and hit the return key. Hopefully after some more terminal text your mac will boot into the login screen.

You're certainly not dumb! It is sometimes difficult to help people by writing. It would be a lot easier to help if I were at your computer. Anyway, I think it is challenging to do it this way.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 16, 2008 - 3:22 pm

tubajensen
Guess what, it worked just like you said it would.I did find out that my Filemaker program won't open. Bob Wood the Mactek I mentioned in the first post had me take the filemaker permissions from someware and put it in trash. Then restart the computer and everything was fine. This happened over a year ago and I don't remember where I found them are you allowed to help or do I need to do another post.

Any way my most sincere thanks for everything you went thru to help.
Tom

Tom Maberrry - Mar 16, 2008 - 4:00 pm

tubajensen
I spoke to soon! The only thing working seems to be Safari. Just to check things out I tried to run the repair permissions utility and found out that it still dosen't work. Also filemaker dosen't open and when I tried to open my Quicken account the quicken file opened as if I were opening a new account. I was reading some of the things that disk repair had typed and it said something about being mounted as read only. I don't know it this means anything to you.

Tom

tubajensen - Mar 16, 2008 - 4:41 pm

Tom.
I don't use Filemaker but i suppose that the other tech was talking about Filemaker's preferences. They would be located in:

/Users/your_user_name/Library/Preferences

and probably are named something like com.filemaker......plist

the dots are to show I don't know the exact name of these preferences. Usually a preference file starts with "com" and ends with "plist".

Did the filesystem check (/sbin/fsck -fy) come up with any results? What do you mean by repair permissions utility? Is it Disk Utility? How do you see that it doesn't work?

Allan

tubajensen - Mar 17, 2008 - 7:27 am

Tom.

Before you do anything about the applications not working, repair the disk and permissions using the system CD/DVD corresponding to the system installed on your computer presently. I believe you are using Panther (Mac OS X 10.3).

Here goes:


Power up the computer. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc 1. Restart your computer holding the C key on your keyboard until the screen with the language options appear.

Choose "Use English for the main language"

When you get to the "Welcome" screen, go to the menu bar. Under "Utilities" choose "Disk Utility"

Now that "Disk Utility" has opened, select your disk in the left part window (it might be named Macintosh HD - if you haven't changed the name). In the window part on the right side select the tab "First Aid". Now press the "Repair Disk" button on the lower right side to repair the system. When finished, press the "Repair Disk Permissions" button on the opposite side (lower left side).
Repairing permissions takes time - so be patient.

To restart the computer, quit "Disk Utilities" by pressing ⌘Q. Then go to "Utilities" in the menu bar and choose "Startup Disk". Select your hard disk - which you just repaired, and click the "Restart" button.


Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 17, 2008 - 9:00 am

tubajensen
I got your E mail this morning. I'm at work so I won't be able to follow your instructions until I go home tonight. I'll let you know how things work out as soon as I can. You seem to have picked up on the fact that I need step by step instructions. They are deeply appreciated.
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 18, 2008 - 4:31 am

Tom.

Let me know if you want the ticket re-opened for someone else to look at.

Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 18, 2008 - 9:02 am

tubajensen
Sorry I did not respond last night but when I got home my wife reminded me that we were going out to dinner with her son and daughter in law. When we got home it was to late to work on the computer. Really I had a couple of drinks and didn't want to try to follow your directions either. I promise to give it a try tonight and let you know how things work out. How come the ticket is being closed out before we know if the fix works? I really would prefer to work with you to try to get the computer working if it is possible.
Tom

tubajensen - Mar 18, 2008 - 10:19 am

OK

Tom Maberrry - Mar 18, 2008 - 8:04 pm

tubajensen
Well I did everything you said to do but it did not fix the problem. Don't feel bad this is how things usually go for me with computers! Do you think I should do it all over again? I checked after restarting the computer and the repair permissions utility did not work & I could not open filemaker. Safari opened, I loged into this web site. I am at a loss at this point. I know I would feel a lot better if you were sitting at this *** computer!! Please don't give up on me Allen.
Tom

Tom Maberrry - Mar 18, 2008 - 8:08 pm

tubajensen
Sorry I noticed you spell your name Allan my brother spells his Allen.
Tom

Tom Maberrry - Mar 19, 2008 - 8:46 am

tubajensen
I forgot to say so but I could not shut the computer down using the Apple drop down Menu. I had to force quit with the On off button on the computer.

Tom

tubajensen - Mar 19, 2008 - 3:39 pm

Tom
Did you try to shut restart the computer as described?
It's strange if that didn't work. You could try the whole procedure again and hope that you can restart normally.

Why did you try repairing permissions after restarting? You just did this - using the Install disk!

I don't really have any more ideas. Maybe instead of re-opening your ticket, you should post your question once more. I find it difficult to step in when the correspondence has been going on for a while - there is so much to read (and not forget).

What I'm saying is that you should close the ticket and write again.

All the best
Allan

Tom Maberrry - Mar 20, 2008 - 11:34 am

tubajensen
Thank you for your understanding and many efforts on my behalf. If nothing else I learned some basic trouble shooting procedures from you. I tried the repair permissions procedure because it was the first problem I noticed after my granddaughter shut the computer off at it's power source.
Again thank your for your time and efforts
Tom