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Help! Unable to reset NVRAM on macpro 2009
- Thread starter krishnaM
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That'll save lot of time but I read online that 'Migration agent' can cause problems with permissions
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrationProblems.html
Lot of data files had 'wheel' or 'staff' in the permissions and problem started after I deleted the wheel and staff permissions. Should I add them before transferring the data files or will they get fixed automatically during transfer to freshly installed Mavericks drive?
Are "wheel" and "staff" files part of the OS? If so, then assuming the files themselves aren't broken, there will be no issue copying them.
I don't know what the 'wheel' or 'staff' is? Not all the data files have them. Some have even 'spotlight' in the permissions list.
"wheel" and "staff" are internal accounts on your system, and are a part of EVERY installed OS X system. They would be correctly replaced by simply reinstalling OS X. Don't try to restore wheel and staff manually. I don't even know how you would do that. There may be some "terminal jockeys" here that can do the fix without reinstalling OS X, but that's not me.
I expect that you would not need to erase the drive first, and you won't have to go through the hassle of deciding what to reinstall.
If you don't care to try that (easy) scenario (and you won't lose anything by just trying an OS X reinstall), then doing it the hard way is your choice. In my opinion, it is not necessary to do that wipe and clean reinstall. It's just not
I expect that you would not need to erase the drive first, and you won't have to go through the hassle of deciding what to reinstall.
If you don't care to try that (easy) scenario (and you won't lose anything by just trying an OS X reinstall), then doing it the hard way is your choice. In my opinion, it is not necessary to do that wipe and clean reinstall. It's just not
As I mentioned in earlier post, I couldn't reload the Mavericks from USB installer. The computer froze every time. I was able to boot from super duper back up drive and also able to reset NVRAM. I tried to fix permissions on SSD while booted on super duper drive and then reboot from SSD. I am able to reset NVRAM now and also choose startup disk. However still not able to reset NVRAM using terminal:
Last login: Thu Nov 12 00:08:05 on command line and getting this message:
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$ sudo nvram -c
sudo: unable to stat /etc/sudoers: Permission denied
sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$
That is why I was thinking of erasing the disk and download individual app and manually copy the data files instead of using set agent or migration agent. I have not done anything yet as I am not sure if that was going to fix the 'sudo' permissions problem
The ONLY way that you can fix your sudo problem, is to reinstall OS X.
That WILL fix your sudo problem - assuming you haven't also messed up the directory on the drive itself, where it is more likely you will need to erase and reinstall. If it will boot at all, then that doesn't seem like a likely scenario at this point.
If you can boot to the installer, but the install won't complete - you need to make sure that you have a good USB flash drive. You may end up with a drive that you erased unnecessarily, and the installer may still not work.
Lots of things you can try.
Reseat the RAM in your MBPro. (swap the cards between the slots). Make sure the RAM is seated completely.
If you can still boot to your hard drive, copy the Mavericks installer app from the flash drive to your Applications folder, and try the install from there, while booted to your MBPro.
If that won't work for you, re-download the Mavericks installer app from the App Store.
Make a new bootable USB installer on a fresh (new) USB flash drive.
That WILL fix your sudo problem - assuming you haven't also messed up the directory on the drive itself, where it is more likely you will need to erase and reinstall. If it will boot at all, then that doesn't seem like a likely scenario at this point.
If you can boot to the installer, but the install won't complete - you need to make sure that you have a good USB flash drive. You may end up with a drive that you erased unnecessarily, and the installer may still not work.
Lots of things you can try.
Reseat the RAM in your MBPro. (swap the cards between the slots). Make sure the RAM is seated completely.
If you can still boot to your hard drive, copy the Mavericks installer app from the flash drive to your Applications folder, and try the install from there, while booted to your MBPro.
If that won't work for you, re-download the Mavericks installer app from the App Store.
Make a new bootable USB installer on a fresh (new) USB flash drive.
You were right about the malfunctioning usb drive. I had Mavericks installer in my applications folder also and I booted from superduper drive and was able to successfully reload the Mavericks on SSD drive. I tried the 'sudo nvram -c' in terminal and it didn't give the error message any more. ThankGod!!
. Do I need to worry about permissions on data files anymore? Is there any thing else I need to check to make sure every thing is normal? Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!
As a final step, after a serious issue like yours that needed an OS X reinstall - I often will use a terminal command that will assure that your own files are owned by your user. It's a permissions issue. Open your terminal.
Type in this command, changing the "username" to the your actual user name
As I see from your previous posts, your username would krishna. So, the correct command is this one that you can just copy and paste into the terminal.
Press enter after pasting the command, and enter your admin password when asked. Remember that you won't see any part of your password as you type it in, just type it as you know it, then press enter.
When the prompt returns, you are done. I usually will restart my Mac after running that command.
Type in this command, changing the "username" to the your actual user name
Code:
sudo chown -R username /Users/username/
Code:
sudo chown -R krishna /Users/krishna/When the prompt returns, you are done. I usually will restart my Mac after running that command.
There two accounts on the mac: me & my wife. Will it ruin my wife's files when I run the command on my account (vice versa)?
That is only for your account, and affects only the files within your account. It will not affect your wife's separate user account.
However, if you run it on your account, you can also run it on your wife's account. Just change the usernames from yours to your wife's account name. There's two changes there: sudo chown -R mywifeaccount /Users/mywifeaccount/
The command checks ownership of the files in your wife's account, and verifies that all files that need to belong to your wife's account, are actually owned by your wife's account.
It's that easy!
However, if you run it on your account, you can also run it on your wife's account. Just change the usernames from yours to your wife's account name. There's two changes there: sudo chown -R mywifeaccount /Users/mywifeaccount/
The command checks ownership of the files in your wife's account, and verifies that all files that need to belong to your wife's account, are actually owned by your wife's account.
It's that easy!
When I used the terminal on my account, I got this message:
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$ sudo chown -R krishna /Users/krishna/
Password:
chown: /Users/krishna//.Trash/Recovered files #7/Untitled Disc.fpbf: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Anand/DSC_2407.JPG: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Anand/Wodugu/DSC_2407.NEF: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Diwali/DSC_2407.NEF: Operation not permitted
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$
I presume I should delete those files. No big deal. It went fine on my wife's account.
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$ sudo chown -R krishna /Users/krishna/
Password:
chown: /Users/krishna//.Trash/Recovered files #7/Untitled Disc.fpbf: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Anand/DSC_2407.JPG: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Anand/Wodugu/DSC_2407.NEF: Operation not permitted
chown: /Users/krishna//Pictures/Nikon Transfer/Diwali/DSC_2407.NEF: Operation not permitted
krishnavadispro:~ krishna$
I presume I should delete those files. No big deal. It went fine on my wife's account.
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I am asking this as I want to know if I should write 'krishnavadi' as full name during future upgrades to avoid ownership issues
"krishnavadispro" is your local hostname, basically the name of your Mac when it is found on a local network.
By default, it's a variation of your Computer Name. That was set up during your original setup, using your original user name, plus the factory name of your computer, which is usually the model name that Apple supplies.
So, you get Krishna Vadi's Pro - or something very close to that.
The local hostname is usually the same, but without spaces.
You can see that in your System Preferences/Sharing pane.
Click "edit" under your computer name.
You can change the local hostname (and your Computer Name) to something else, if you like. I usually make those two names different from each other, so I know where information is coming from, and so there's no mistake about which computer I am accessing whenever I use file sharing, for example.
To answer your post #65 question, you can't use krishnavadi in those commands, because you don't have a user with that name (that exact spelling). Your own user name is what you already know: krishna - that's the only one that you need. The only time I have ever seen the need to run that "chown" command was immediately after a reinstall, or after migrating data or a user from another drive.
By default, it's a variation of your Computer Name. That was set up during your original setup, using your original user name, plus the factory name of your computer, which is usually the model name that Apple supplies.
So, you get Krishna Vadi's Pro - or something very close to that.
The local hostname is usually the same, but without spaces.
You can see that in your System Preferences/Sharing pane.
Click "edit" under your computer name.
You can change the local hostname (and your Computer Name) to something else, if you like. I usually make those two names different from each other, so I know where information is coming from, and so there's no mistake about which computer I am accessing whenever I use file sharing, for example.
To answer your post #65 question, you can't use krishnavadi in those commands, because you don't have a user with that name (that exact spelling). Your own user name is what you already know: krishna - that's the only one that you need. The only time I have ever seen the need to run that "chown" command was immediately after a reinstall, or after migrating data or a user from another drive.
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How do you pick your host name separate from computer name? If I am remembering right, I only had the option for 'Full name' (which is same as the computer name in System preferences/Sharing pane) and 'Account user name' which is krishna?
One last question: I am planning to upgrade to El Captain soon. Usually I like to do a clean install and then use 'Setup agent' to transfer my apps and data from Time Machine. Is that going to be fine after all this mess up? Is transferring data using Setup agent is any different/safer then copy/pasting data files (except the ease of doing the transfer)?
One last question: I am planning to upgrade to El Captain soon. Usually I like to do a clean install and then use 'Setup agent' to transfer my apps and data from Time Machine. Is that going to be fine after all this mess up? Is transferring data using Setup agent is any different/safer then copy/pasting data files (except the ease of doing the transfer)?
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Sure, I expect that your next Time Machine backup will clear out the old junk from before your reinstall. You may see TM take longer before it completes that next backup. You should be safe enough then to just do your upgrade using the method that has worked for you in the past.
Thanks for saving my macpro. My plan is upgrade the firmware to 5.1 and then upgrade the osx to El Captain this weekend and then exchange the cpu with a X5690 6 core (in mail) after that. It is 6 yrs old but I hope to keep it for looong time.