Why is it that I can no longer access some folders in my old time machine backups and how can I get access?

Question

So I recently had IT reformat my Mac OS 10.6 laptop to put a 10.8 image on it. When I first got it back I could still access all folders in my old backups, including the Library folder under my old user account folder. Now when I go into it the system tells me that I don't have permission to access it.

I have tried sudo to get into it from terminal with no luck. I don't remember if this problem started after I enabled backups on my new install of OS X. But this is very irritating. Any ideas as to why this is? I can no longer access "/Users//Library" for example. I just get a red circle icon with a white dash in it.

I tried changing the owner with chown. I tried changing the permissions with chmod to 777. No luck so far.

Why is this happening and are there any solutions for it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Have you tried repairing the disk permissions via Disk Utility?

If that doesn't work, try enabling the root account, logging in, and attempting to access the files.

• Use the "System Administrator" account to access the files:

  1. navigate to the folder "/System/Library/CoreServices/" and open "Directory Utility.app"
  2. Click the padlock
  3. in the "Edit" menu, choose "Enable root user"
  4. from the Apple menu, choose "Log out"
  5. log in as "System Administrator" (or "root") and you will have access to the files in "/Users/Abby"

Answer 2

If you are familiar with the Terminal, try granting the Terminal "Full Disk Access" as described in the article "Time Machine: inherit a backup from another computer".

If you would rather use finder, try unchecking "Ignore ownership on this volume" as described in the article "Accessing old files in OS X after a hard drive upgrade".

Time Machine Backups are awesome but so annoying when all you want to do is access hidden files from old user accounts.

I was stuck for days trying to use Finder to browse files from an old Time Machine Backup to an APFS Volume and the file I needed was in the hidden Library folder that has 700 permissions for a UID that I am no longer using. I was getting nowhere while looking for a way to uncheck "Ignore ownership on this volume" which wasn't an option because instead the Info > Sharing & Permissions only says "You have custom access". I also tried chmod but Terminal errors with:

cd: permission denied /Volumes/.timemachine/UUID/dated.backup/dated.backup/Macintosh HD - Data/Users/username/Library.

In my case, all I needed was the "Full Disk Access" tip for the Terminal and amazingly I am finally able to access the Library files but using a slightly different directory structure.

cd "/Volumes/Backups/dated.previous/Macintosh HD - Data/Users/username/Library"

Answer 3

Don't use the Finder or Terminal to browse through TM backups.

Use the Time Machine interface, accessed through the TM menulet.