Can I fix the problem using Mavericks installer as suggested by DeltaMac in earlier post?
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Help! Unable to reset NVRAM on macpro 2009
- Thread starter krishnaM
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Definitely worth a shot. There seems to be something wrong with your admin account anyway. I clean install would certainly fix that.
Sorry I missed this post. I am not able to choose the startup disk using option key.
If I do a clean install using USB drive and then remove it before restarting, will the mac automatically boot from SSD with fresh Maverick install (even though I chose to boot from USB drive before)?
There's no need to remove the installer before your Mac restarts.
Just let it restart automatically.
The install process changes the boot drive to the destination as one of the steps during the install.
Makes sense, because the installer forces the system to restart during the install, sometimes multiple times. And, it boots to the default, as it should, which is the system that you are trying to fix. That would be your SSD.
Just let it restart automatically.
The install process changes the boot drive to the destination as one of the steps during the install.
Makes sense, because the installer forces the system to restart during the install, sometimes multiple times. And, it boots to the default, as it should, which is the system that you are trying to fix. That would be your SSD.
Usually I use the migration assistant to transfer the data from Time machine. Will it bring the old problem along with the data?There's no need to remove the installer before your Mac restarts.
Just let it restart automatically.
The install process changes the boot drive to the destination as one of the steps during the install.
Makes sense, because the installer forces the system to restart during the install, sometimes multiple times. And, it boots to the default, as it should, which is the system that you are trying to fix. That would be your SSD.
There's no way to really tell until you try... I suggest trying things out to make sure everything is working as it should before running migration assistant. You can always go back to /Applications/Utilities and launch migration assistant from there.
I hope you don't actually need to do ANY migration this time.
You did say that your wife's account is also affected to some degree, so it may not be a problem with your user files and data, but is system-wide
What I would suggest is to simply reinstall OS X.
It will install on top of what you have - resetting some parts of your system, hopefully those system files that are affecting your user accounts will be fixed as a result of that reinstall.
You are not erasing your hard drive, just reinstalling OS X.
The reinstall should not affect your own files.
So, in that case you would not need to migrate anything this time, just reinstalling the system. Your data remains in place on the hard drive.
And, you would test your system after the reinstall to see if your problem is gone.
You did say that your wife's account is also affected to some degree, so it may not be a problem with your user files and data, but is system-wide
What I would suggest is to simply reinstall OS X.
It will install on top of what you have - resetting some parts of your system, hopefully those system files that are affecting your user accounts will be fixed as a result of that reinstall.
You are not erasing your hard drive, just reinstalling OS X.
The reinstall should not affect your own files.
So, in that case you would not need to migrate anything this time, just reinstalling the system. Your data remains in place on the hard drive.
And, you would test your system after the reinstall to see if your problem is gone.
I want to be clear. You are saying that when I do a fresh install of Mavericks using usb installer, it will not erase the whole drive clean before installation?
Huh? If you do a clean install, of course it's going to do a drive erase. It won't touch anything else though. However, what you are probably referring to, it's not a clean install. It'll just reinstall the OS while keeping the files.
It is SATA drive installed in the first bay using OWC drive sled. Keyboard is connected directly to the Mac in rear USB port
Thanks for the suggestion.
I was just searching on google about possible cause for loss of administrative privileges. I found that messing around with file 'permissions' may lead to system malfunctions and your inability as an admin user to obtain temporary root status using sudo.
Last weekend I started cleaning up the computer to do fresh install of El Captain. My wife noticed 'wheel' and 'staff' in file permissions and thought that was some sort of hacking job and deleted them. Could that have caused the problem? Will system reinstall will fix the permissions problem?
Yeah, better to reinstall El Capitan. Since 10.11, Apple introduce SIP which you never need to worry about the system files and their permission. Just install it once more, it will repair the system and keep all your user data (of course, a full backup is always preferable before any system maintenance).
Thanks again. I always make backup using Time Machine as well as super duper. Should I install the El Captain over current boot drive without erasing it with Disk utility (as suggested by DeltaMac in earlier post)? Also, will it fix the permissions of data files (i.e.non system files)?
To both your questions: Yes.
Wheel and Staff are both a part of an OS X system. Now you know - don't mess with them!
Don't manually change random permissions and ownership on anything, unless you know what you are doing, or have clear direction on what to do. Your wife might not be the "expert" that you need to ask about this stuff
There's a few here who often will answer back more quickly than you might expect.The OS X reinstall will fix all those important system parts, and get Wheel and Staff back in their proper places.
It seems like your system is having multiple problems.
#1 - You don't have to select the boot drive during bootup. You can select it ahead of time in OS X by going to System Preferences, Startup Disk. It should look something like this:
#2 - It also looks like your "sudo" is broken, which you might be able to fix by launching Disk Utility and clicking on "Repair Permissions". Once "sudo" is fixed you should be able to reset your NVRAM using the command line text that I provided in post #3. Hopefully you are still on Yosemite or older, because you won't be able to repair permissions in El Capitan.
#3 - Probably a different keyboard will fix the problem of the keyboard not working at boot time, since this is a known problem with the Apple slim aluminum keyboard. However, I also have my doubts because you said that the keyboard used to be able to do this. I have never heard of that keyboard working for bootup commands and then not working for them later. It's always been 100% not working. So I'm not really sure what to think about this, but I guess we'll find out soon. I would appreciate it if you post your results.
#1 - You don't have to select the boot drive during bootup. You can select it ahead of time in OS X by going to System Preferences, Startup Disk. It should look something like this:
#2 - It also looks like your "sudo" is broken, which you might be able to fix by launching Disk Utility and clicking on "Repair Permissions". Once "sudo" is fixed you should be able to reset your NVRAM using the command line text that I provided in post #3. Hopefully you are still on Yosemite or older, because you won't be able to repair permissions in El Capitan.
#3 - Probably a different keyboard will fix the problem of the keyboard not working at boot time, since this is a known problem with the Apple slim aluminum keyboard. However, I also have my doubts because you said that the keyboard used to be able to do this. I have never heard of that keyboard working for bootup commands and then not working for them later. It's always been 100% not working. So I'm not really sure what to think about this, but I guess we'll find out soon. I would appreciate it if you post your results.
To both your questions: Yes.
Wheel and Staff are both a part of an OS X system. Now you know - don't mess with them!
Don't manually change random permissions and ownership on anything, unless you know what you are doing, or have clear direction on what to do. Your wife might not be the "expert" that you need to ask about this stuff
The OS X reinstall will fix all those important system parts, and get Wheel and Staff back in their proper places.
I shouldn't blame my wife as it was me who told her to do that. There is a saying in India "Little knowledge is worse than no knowledge". It gives pseudo confidence and make us take wrong decisions. I learned the hard way. I booted from the USB drive with Mavericks installer and tried three times to download the osx. Each time the computer froze after the progress bar reached to about 4th to a 3rd.
The good news is that I am able to boot normally from my super duper back up drive and also was able to reset PRAM and choose the start up drive by pressing option button. So the key board is working. I also have the back up on my Time Machine drive. I am able to boot from the SSD but I think I totally screwed it with my stupidity.
My plan is to erase the SSD and reload the Mavericks. I don't want use 'Set up agent' or Migration agent' to transfer my data as I am worried it will lead to same situation. I'll have to download each application individually and then copy & paste the data files. Hopefully that will fix the 'sudo' problem and permissions.
Now my question: Will I be able to solve the situation? Any better suggestions? I do not have the confidence to take any step without your advice.
Krishna