Problem with Permissions

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chrome46

Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

I'm trying to run VirtualBox and keep getting an Access Denied error when I try to create the hard disk image. I have checked all the boxes in the user/groups thingy.

I'm having similar problem when trying to copy or move files between folders. (This I can circumvent by opening as root from the menu).

Please help. - Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Code: Select all

maxwell@Cameron1 ~ $ ls -al
total 535504
drwxr-xr-x 52 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 08:08 .
drwxr-xr-x  4 root    root         4096 2009-06-25 11:26 ..
drwx------  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 20:59 .adobe
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 13:15 .aptitude
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell      1036 2009-06-25 14:58 .banter.log
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell      3822 2009-06-28 15:25 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell       220 2009-06-23 16:51 .bash_logout
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:44 bin
drwxr-xr-x  5 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-27 13:48 .cache
drwxr-xr-x  8 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 12:12 .config
drwx------  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 13:15 .debtags
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 11:09 Desktop
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell        28 2009-06-28 07:47 .dmrc
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 Documents
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell        16 2009-06-23 13:00 .esd_auth
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:38 .fontconfig
drwxr-xr-x  5 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 12:34 .freevo
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-24 15:31 .fretsonfire
drwxr-xr-x  6 maxwell maxwell      4096 2008-11-04 12:20 Frets on Fire-1.3.110
drwxr-xr-x  9 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 09:48 fuppes
drwx------  4 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 07:53 .gconf
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 15:25 .gconfd
-rw-r-----  1 maxwell maxwell         0 2009-06-27 13:41 .gksu.lock
drwx------ 10 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 01:56 .gnome2
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:00 .gnome2_private
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 .gnupg
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 14:24 .google
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-24 13:49 .gstreamer-0.10
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell       116 2009-06-28 07:49 .gtk-bookmarks
dr-x------  2 maxwell maxwell         0 2009-06-28 07:47 .gvfs
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell      2445 2009-06-28 07:47 .ICEauthority
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 13:12 .java
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 12:23 .kchmviewer
drwx------  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-24 13:47 .kde
drwxr-xr-x  6 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 12:42 .linuxmint
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:44 .local
drwx------  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 20:59 .macromedia
drwxr-xr-x  5 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 15:50 .miro
drwx------  4 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-24 00:24 .mozilla
drwx------  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-24 00:24 .mozilla-thunderbird
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-27 11:05 .mplayer
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 Music
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:00 .nautilus
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell       336 2009-06-25 17:10 .nvidia-settings-rc
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 10 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 17:09 .PlayOnLinux
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell       675 2009-06-23 16:51 .profile
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 Projects
drwx------  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 07:47 .pulse
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell       256 2009-06-23 13:00 .pulse-cookie
drwx------  6 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 08:08 .purple
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell     16416 2009-06-28 08:08 .recently-used.xbel
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 09:46 .subversion
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell         0 2009-06-23 17:01 .sudo_as_admin_successful
drwx------  4 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 13:29 .thumbnails
drwxr-xr-x  4 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:00 .tomboy
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell      4754 2009-06-28 07:47 .tomboy.log
drwxr-xr-x  5 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 16:47 ushare-1.1
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell     65545 2007-12-04 17:15 ushare-1.1.tar.bz2
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 13:00 Videos
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 12:21 .VirtualBox
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-28 07:47 .wapi
drwxr-xr-x  4 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-26 07:56 .wine
drwxr-xr-x  6 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-23 17:43 .wine-doors
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell      3865 2009-06-25 12:58 .wine.stderr.log
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell     11618 2009-06-23 17:44 .wine.stdout.log
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell         0 2009-06-25 12:58 .wine.stout.log
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell     82262 2009-06-07 20:38 winetricks
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 14:06 .winetrickscache
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell 547321856 2009-06-26 12:17 WinXPSp1.iso
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell      1125 2009-06-25 14:37 wmpp11.reg
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell       119 2009-06-28 07:47 .Xauthority
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell      4096 2009-06-25 13:29 .xine
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell     22675 2009-06-28 15:23 .xsession-errors
maxwell@Cameron1 ~ $ cd /home
maxwell@Cameron1 /home $ cd /maxwell
bash: cd: /maxwell: No such file or directory
maxwell@Cameron1 /home $ dir
freevo	maxwell
maxwell@Cameron1 /home $ ls -al
total 16
drwxr-xr-x  4 root    root    4096 2009-06-25 11:26 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root    root    4096 2009-06-25 14:24 ..
drwxr-xr-x  9 freevo  freevo  4096 2009-06-25 15:43 freevo
drwxr-xr-x 52 maxwell maxwell 4096 2009-06-28 08:08 maxwell
I navigated to my root folder than opened in terminal through the drop menu and ran the command. The I "cd"-d to the home folder (I thought it should've been there already) and repeated. I tried "cd"-ing into the maxwell folder (my home folder) but it wouldn't let me as you can see above.

Thanks in advance. :)
optimize me

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by optimize me »

I think it asks to do it for you during installation, but are you sure you're part of the vboxusers group? What's the output you get when you type

Code: Select all

groups
into a terminal? For me, for example, I get:

Code: Select all

$ groups
MY-USERNAME adm dialout cdrom plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare vboxusers
If you don't see vboxusers as one of your groups, you can fix it by entering the following:

Code: Select all

sudo adduser YOURNAME vboxusers
Of course, replacing YOURNAME with your user name.
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Can you explain below? These are the first entries in a fresh terminal session.

The first attempt at the "cd ~/.virtualbox? was me typing, the second (successful) attempt is a cut & paste from your post.

Also, I tried to cd to my home, but it didn't work (as you can see below)

Code: Select all

maxwell@Cameron1 ~ $ cd /home
maxwell@Cameron1 /home $ cd maxwell
maxwell@Cameron1 ~ $ cd ~/.virtualbox
bash: cd: /home/maxwell/.virtualbox: No such file or directory
maxwell@Cameron1 ~ $ cd /
maxwell@Cameron1 / $ cd ~/.virtualbox
bash: cd: /home/maxwell/.virtualbox: No such file or directory
maxwell@Cameron1 / $ cd ~/.VirtualBox
maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ 
Below is the paste from ls -alR

Code: Select all

maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ ls -alR
.:
total 36
drwxr-xr-x  3 maxwell maxwell  4096 2009-06-26 12:21 .
drwxr-xr-x 52 maxwell maxwell  4096 2009-06-29 00:00 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell  1055 2009-06-26 11:54 compreg.dat
drwxr-xr-x  2 maxwell maxwell  4096 2009-06-26 12:21 HardDisks
-rw-------  1 maxwell maxwell  1394 2009-06-26 12:21 VirtualBox.xml
-rw-r--r--  1 maxwell maxwell 14404 2009-06-26 11:54 xpti.dat

./HardDisks:
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 maxwell maxwell 4096 2009-06-26 12:21 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 maxwell maxwell 4096 2009-06-26 12:21 ..
maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ 
I was also denied for your second piece of advise.

Code: Select all

maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ sudo chown -R maxwell:maxwell /home/maxwell
[sudo] password for maxwell: 
chown: cannot access `/home/maxwell/.gvfs': Permission denied
maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ 
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

optimize me - here is the output from your suggestion

Code: Select all

maxwell@Cameron1 ~/.VirtualBox $ cd /
maxwell@Cameron1 / $ groups
maxwell adm dialout fax cdrom tape audio dip video plugdev fuse lpadmin netdev admin sambashare vboxusers
maxwell@Cameron1 / $ 
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Still no joy on the file copying or VirtualBox image creation.

I should note that I also have the same issues when I log in as the root account.
optimize me

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by optimize me »

I suppose the first thing you should do is: Stop logging in as root. Just like it was noted above, every file you copy or move changes permissions and ownership on that file so that root owns it, and that's going to make problems for you (and whomever you're asking for help) somewhere along the line.

There's no real need to ever log into a root GUI session. If you find you need root access for a specific function, that's what sudo & su are for. If you need to move some files around with super user access, in Mint you can right click in a regular Nautilus window and select "Open as root" from the context menu.

Having said that: I don't know what to tell you any more. Your user is part of the vboxusers group. You've checked & changed ownership on files & folders in your home directory (and probably have to do that again) to make sure the files that should be are under your control.

About the only thing left to do is purge virtualbox from your system and delete the .VirtualBox folder from your home directory. Then, go download the latest .deb from the website (they just had an update some time last week I think) and re-install it.

Beyond that, I'm afraid I don't know what else to say. I wish I could be more help.
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

I only tried twice to long in as root, both before I started this thread and to see if that would resolve the problem.

I had the copy/move problem before I installed VBox, and I have been getting around it by opening folders via the menu (Open as Root).

The error I get in VBox is (VERR_ACCESS_DENIED).

I'll try purging and downloading the new version, but I'm thinking that the issue is not specific to VBox and is more generally related to the permissions. There must be some stupid little box somewhere that needs to bee checked...
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Ok, I deleted my user and created a new one. This has resolved the copy issue.

I also completely removed VirtualBox 2.24 and installed 3.0, but still have the same issue.

Any other ideas?
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Not sure which is the repos...originally I installed 2.24 via the package manager. Then I marked for complete removal and applied. Then I downloaded the 3.xx from the website (deb??) and installed as directed on the site.
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

I seem to be ok when transfering files within the "Filesystem" but when I try to copy TO my second drive (2nd partition of main drive) I run into problems. Is there something I need to do to be able to transfer to that drive, or do I have to "Open as root" (which I'm assuming will mess up permissions).

Thanks again for all y our patience. :)
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

I get an error when I try to run the command in terminal tell me that there is no virtualbox*.

I decided to go with a dual boot and installed a secondary IDE drive and loaded xp onto it for my wife. She was getting down right irritable with out her games.

I'm still sticking around though. I'm determined to figure Linux out.

Thanks for your help. - I'm still having problems copying to the other partition (my /media folder).
DrHu

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by DrHu »

chrome46 wrote:Not sure which is the repos...originally I installed 2.24 via the package manager. Then I marked for complete removal and applied. Then I downloaded the 3.xx from the website (deb??) and installed as directed on the site.
Most people will mean the repositories as configured by Linux mint for this distribution..
--there might be reasons other than time/resources why a particular application is not included in the Linux mint repositories, whether or not they are using Ubuntu or other locations..
chrome46

Re: Problem with Permissions

Post by chrome46 »

Thanks - it took a me a sec but I figured out that ther 1st user is my user id and the second is the group that it belongs to.

File transfering seems to be working fine now between partitions.

Much obliged!
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