Cannot access my picture files because I have no permissions?

[prog4ever]

Hi, Group!

Yes, I believe I had this same problem some years ago, with another Desktop Mac and with another OS.

If I want to access some hundreds of files which are on an external disk, the system says it cannot open them, because I have no permissions.
Of course I could try to fix it if it was only a couple of pictures but... hundreds?

I believe some of you have more consistent solution.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I have a Desktop iMac M4, with Tahoe 26.5.1

All the best

Art

 

[p33t3r]

Isn't there an option for external drives to "disregard permissions on this drive" or something similar? Maybe in "Get Info"?

 

[Fishrrman]

1. Connect the problem drive to the Mac, let its icon mount on the desktop
2. DO NOT "open" the icon
3. Click ONE time on the drive icon, then bring up the "get info" box (you can type command-i)
4. At the bottom of get info, click the lock and enter your password
5. Put a checkmark in "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
6. Close get info

NOW try copying files from the external drive to your internal drive.
Or just opening them from the external drive.
Any better?

By doing this trick, you over-ride permissions on the external drive.
Any file you copy from the external will now "fall under the ownership" of your account on the Mac you're using now.

I'm going to GUESS that these files were created/copied from a DIFFERENT Mac. The OS sees the "owner" of the old/other Mac as "someone else" -- not you (your account) on the newer Mac.

Try this and get back to us.
It will take you all of 30 seconds to do so.

 

[prog4ever]

Thanks a lot for your help. Really appreciated.

Strangely, when I "open" the "Get Info", there is NO lock at the bottom😳😳😳

What shall I do... now?

Thanks in advance

Art

 

[benholt]

Adding to Fishrrman's steps — two Tahoe-26 wrinkles worth knowing. In 26.5 the persistent lock icon at the bottom of Get Info got replaced with an inline "Authenticate" button inside the Sharing & Permissions section itself, so scroll down within the Get Info window and it should show up next to the "Ignore ownership on this volume" row. If that row isn't there at all, the volume is probably ExFAT or an APFS container without POSIX ownership metadata (check "Kind" at the top of Get Info to confirm — Mac OS Extended and standard APFS will have it, ExFAT and MS-DOS FAT won't). Also worth ruling out: is the "no permissions" error coming from Finder itself or from a specific app like Preview or Photos? If it's the app, it's more likely TCC than POSIX — System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders, make sure the app has the external volume toggled on.

 

[Fishrrman]

Thanks to benholt for additional information I wasn't aware of!

A question:
Regardless of the format of the "problem volume", what would happen if the OP
- got a SECOND drive (either USB HDD, SSD, or even a flashdrive)
- formatted the "intermediate drive" to Mac OS (APFS or HFS+)
- copied files/folders from the problem drive to the "intermediate" drive
- then tried the "get info" trick again from the Mac-formatted drive?

Will this take care of the permissions issue when moving from ExFAT or MS-DOS drives?