Inability to change permissions on iMac running Big Sur

Question

Level 1

4 points

Inability to change permissions on iMac running Big Sur

Just installed Big Sur and Time Machine backup on an external SSD drive connected to my mid 2015 iMac via USB 3. Everything seems to be working except that I am having issues with the "you can only read" message when I "get info" on my hard drives. I can physically still save files on my computer's desktop or document folders, but I can't open Dropbox, or run BlackMagic drive speed test, etc. I get the "You do not have permissions to ..." I am aware that Apple has some built in protections to prevent people from doing damage to their systems, but I do not believe that I am getting near that "line" in simply trying to open Dropbox or running a speed test on my drives. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

iMac 27″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Nov 18, 2024 4:44 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

60,572 points

Nov 19, 2024 8:46 PM in response to Tomd86

You are also not allowed to write to the system area located outside of the "/Users" folder. Make sure you are only writing/storing data within the "/Users" folder. There is a "/Users/Shared" folder for being able to share data between different users on the same OS. For any cloud based services, make sure to only store them within your own home user folder.

As for the Black Magic speed tests, you can click on the Settings option in the BlackMagic app to select a different folder for the test so you can direct it to your own home user folder, or to another folder/volume on the drive. Avoid selecting the system area on any other boot drives since you will end up breaking the seal which would prevent booting to that OS again without reinstalling.

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Answer 2

Tomd86 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2024 7:55 AM in response to BDAqua

The Time Machine backups are on a separate USB 3 external drive that is only used for Time Machine backups. And the backups appeared to work. My concern is that my "backup" was somehow corrupted or messed up in some way.

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Answer 3

Tomd86 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2024 7:59 AM in response to HWTech

To my knowledge, besides saving to an external drive, I only save things to downloads, documents, desktop, or program folders within my user folder. But I will be aware of this, and look out for it going forward. Thanks. I also will try Black Magic again and watch where I am directing it.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

245,405 points

Nov 19, 2024 9:01 AM in response to Tomd86

Apple no longer lets you write to derives with Time Maxhine files on them, also have tou run Disk Utility on the drives?

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

245,405 points

Nov 20, 2024 8:11 AM in response to Tomd86

You can use Drive DX to possibly get a better view of Drive health…

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx

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