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View Full Version : Missing Kext, Unexpected ACL, and Messy Permission on Mac OS Lion



Frank Petronio
18-Jan-2012, 19:11
I really don't think I should have to be messing around in Terminal to successfully use a new Mac with the current OS but I'm pulling the remaining strands of my hair out over this.

Goes back to thinking I was such a smart guy by buying a new Mac Mini Server (Quad core i7) to be a general purpose Mac for Photoshop, mostly.

So I get it and mess around trying to set up a RAID on the two matching internal drives. I realize that doing this prevents a standard OS install, prevents Disk Utility and Internet Recovery because I have to wipe the disks. I mess around attempting to get it to work but keep getting Missing KEXT warnings and on restart the Mac won't boot. So I give up and reformat the drives back to normal vanilla HFS Journaled drives and install OS X Lion 10.7.2 onto them in stock configuration.

Mac runs fine, Disk Utility rebuilds permissions nicely, all OK. Run software update. Install Adobe CS5 plus some related things: Harrington RIP, Epson printer and scanner updates, Transmit, Harman ICC profile, Transmit FTP, Vue Scan... all OS Lion compatible, nice and normal graphics apps. Reboot after each big install.

Running along nicely then repair permissions - get a big long list of faults but it's not unusual after installing all that. Repairs OK, notes that there is an ACL in an unexpected place. Then it requires my password to delete and move files. Won't print because it lacks proper permissions. Hmm, but I go into Get Info and change permissions to Read & Write, apply to enclosed items.

Won't reboot. Same bullshit as when I was trying to run the RAID. I run Disk Utility in recovery mode and it restarts OK.

I run Disk Utility again and it says I have a ~hundred-plus missing KEXT extensions.

Won't boot unless I reinstall the OS.

This is the third time it has done this pattern - running nice, then requiring passwords to move or modify files, unable to print or access files because of faulty permissions, then missing KEXT warnings, won't reboot on its own.

Like it progressively goes to Hell.

Meanwhile I installed 10.7.2 on my laptop and it runs great, no issues.

I figure if I take this Mini into see the Apple "Genius" they are going to reinstall the OS and pronounce it golden.

But before I bestow it on the Apple Store... is there anything else I should try? I am at the point of chucking it right now....

I haven't added any fonts and nothing strange. I am running OWC RAM, and my next try will be switching back to Apple RAM. But nothing here seems out of the ordinary and it really seems strange to me.

Preston
18-Jan-2012, 19:31
ACL! That's your problem Frank. There should not be an Anterior Cruciate Ligament on a Mac! That will bring it to its knees! :D

Seriously, I wish I could help--I'm a PC guy. I hope you get it sorted out in short order.

--P

Kirk Gittings
18-Jan-2012, 19:39
Thou hast journeyed to far into the abyss......

Ross Chambers
18-Jan-2012, 23:54
I'm far from expert, but Disk Warrior straightened out a messy Leopard set of problems. I have no experience with Lion, currently I'm using Snow Leopard (and sticking with it)

The site says that it now is compatible with Lion. Excuse me if you know all this.

http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/

Kirk Gittings
19-Jan-2012, 00:07
I use it on Lion, but I'd have my doubts given the depth of Frank's issues.

philipus
19-Jan-2012, 02:20
Hi Frank

Is your user folder on a separate drive? If so, and it is corrupted, perhaps that causes the repeating problems?

Just a wild stab in the dark (sorry).

Cheers
Philip

Frank Petronio
19-Jan-2012, 08:55
So far things are running OK after I booted in Recovery Mode and used Terminal to "resetpassword" which took me to a screen to restore default permissions. Kind of silly that anyone should have to use Terminal to get a workable computer at this point but knock on wood, I think this did the trick with less pain than some of the other suggestions I've read.

Frank Petronio
19-Jan-2012, 11:05
And now I've creating another Admin account and that nuked all the messed up preferences, so now things appear to be stable.

Not that hard. But obscure to any normal user and way more work than it should have been.

Bad Lion Apple!

Ed Richards
19-Jan-2012, 13:23
I thought Apple computers just read your thoughts and configured themselves.

Darin Boville
19-Jan-2012, 13:55
I thought Apple computers just read your thoughts and configured themselves.

That's how mine works. I have no idea what Frank is up to!

--Darin

Brian K
19-Jan-2012, 15:29
Lion is a whole different animal than previous Mac OS's. First it's 64 bit and second it does not allow any applications that require Rosetta to run. And you'll find that a lot of prior apps need Rosetta. If you plan to run this computer with scanners or printers that do not have current Lion versions you may well be out of luck. Earlier version of photoshop Like CS2 and possibly CS3 will not run as they are coded to also work on PPC Macs and require Rosetta.

Frank Petronio
20-Jan-2012, 22:13
Everything I run is up-to-date and 64-bit Lion friendly but I think I didn't do a totally clean install the first time and something was corrupted. I went back and methodically reformatted and did a clean install of every item, then copied over my work files manually rather than trying to use any Migration Assistant or Time Capsule transfers. Apple promises quick and easy transfers but it is fair from perfect.

It now works solid and stable with no glitches. I like it a lot.

Other than I found a well-document bug, by Apple apparently, with the Intel 3000 integrated graphics (a weak point in the Mini Server to be sure) and the larger Brush cursors in Adobe applications. Basically I can not use the Brush Size Cursors in larger sizes until Apple fixes this in their next OS update 10.7.3 (coming soon, free). Still it is a bugger for photography and the bug has been known since Summer 2011. Nice....

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/brushes_not_working_on_2011_macbook_air

Anyway, no free lunches - A Mac Pro tower wouldn't have this issue and you could swap a video card out if it did.

Once they fix that I'll be real happy.