(SOLVED) Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

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SteveHoffmanUK

(SOLVED) Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

Post by SteveHoffmanUK »

just installed LM9 64-bit on my new Dell desktop. restored my Home folder and am having all kinds of error messages from Firefox and Thunderbird. These indicate problems in writing to my Home folder. I then checked my Home folder permissions and it says: "The permissions of [username] could not be determined."

For the record, these are the error messages I'm getting:

In Thunderbird and Firefox, when I launch them, it says,

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Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features.
I press "OK" and the application launches, but then

In Thunderbird, when I try to retrieve my emails off the server, it says,

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Unable to write the email to the mailbox. Make sure the file system allows you write privileges, and you have enough disk space to copy the mailbox.


It seems pretty clear to me that these are connected with having "indeterminable" permissions on my Home folder. Can someone tell me how to sort out those permissions so that my apps will run properly?

Many thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
proxima_centauri

Re: Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

Post by proxima_centauri »

try

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sudo chown -R yourUserName /home/yourUserName
SteveHoffmanUK

Re: Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

Post by SteveHoffmanUK »

Proxima:

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried your suggestion and get this error message:

Code: Select all

chown: cannot access `/home/steve/.gvfs': Permission denied
What is causing that?
proxima_centauri

Re: Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

Post by proxima_centauri »

Try reinstalling the following from Package Manager,
gvfs gvfs-backends gvfs-bin gvfs-fuse libgvfscommon0

EDIT: That may be unnecessary, reading this -> http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p= ... ostcount=1

Under part 3
umount /home/[username]/.gvfs
rm -r /home/[username]/.gvfs
SteveHoffmanUK

Re: Home folder permissions "not able to be determined"

Post by SteveHoffmanUK »

Hey - it worked! :)

Despite the error message, when I went back and launched Firefox and Thunderbird, the nasty old error messages about permissions weren't there, and T-Bird downloaded all my emails from the server. Brilliant.

Now, should I still do the reinstall that you suggest, or work on the principle of "If it ain't bust, don't fix"?

ON EDIT: Oops - didn't see your edit before writing the above. I'll leave well enough alone and mark this SOLVED. Thanks again for your help!

On further edit: My Home folder still says that the permissions cannot be determined. Surely this isn't right, is it? How can I change that?
proxima_centauri

Re: (SOLVED) Home folder permissions "not able to be determi

Post by proxima_centauri »

It may be the .gvfs file, not exactly sure.
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MoonDragon
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Re: (SOLVED) Home folder permissions "not able to be determi

Post by MoonDragon »

thank guys, this REALLY helped me out here....
the most clear information I found on the subject
:D
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