Folder Permissions Required with Permission denied

[kaykal]

I recently bought a new MacBook pro with M3 chip running macOS Sonoma 14.2.1. I have purchased FileBot from App Store, I installed FileBot on the new mac without any problem. However, when trying to rename stuff, I get the "Folder Permissions Required" window with option to drag folders to unlock them. The issue is that drag and drop is not working and I don't know how to give permission to FileBot. I have tried my Downloads folder a folder called within Downloads folder and a folder within my Home directory. None of them works. Looking at the forum it seems that, this is a common issue with FileBot purchases through App Store (not sure though, might be wrong) but I couldn't any solution or workaround. Can anyone help me with solution? If it is indeed related to mac App Store, is there an option to buy FileBot lifetime license at a discounted rate?

Thanks,
Kourosh

[rednoah]

The issue is specific to the Mac App Store since only the Mac App Store version uses sandboxing. That said, it's not common. You selecting a folder via the File Dialog or dropping a folder via drag-n-drop from Finder is interpreted by macOS as giving permission. If you drop a folder and the files inside that folder then appear in FileBot, then it's already fundamentally working.


Can you load files into FileBot? Which folders appear in the "Folder Permissions Required" dialog? What are the permissions on that folder? If you see the "Folder Permissions Required" dialog then it means that FileBot is working with folders where it doesn't have read permission. This could be sandbox related if that folder was not dropped into FileBot yet, or it could be a general permission issue unrelated to sandboxing, bad permissions, files that are owned by other users, etc.


Notably, if you drop a folder and that folder does not become accessible, then additional "Permission denied" error messages with details (i.e. file paths and POSIX permissions, etc) should also appear. Do additional error messages not appear? Does the log not say anything?


Can you provide screenshots and sample file paths as text and System Information output? It works for everyone else, so with context we might notice something unusual that makes things not work in your specific case.


We have not implemented support for user-specific discounts or discount codes and likely never will for the sake of simplicity. If your purchase is recent you may be able to get a refund via Apple Support though.

[kaykal]

Thanks for your quick response. I tested 3 folders:
- Downlads folder
- Temp folder in Downloads folder
- Test folder in my home directory

I can load the files into FileBot and match it just fine. When I hit rename, the "Folder Permissions Required" appears. Depending on which folder I am testing, that folder is shown in this window with a locked sign. I attached screenshots of one of the examples.







Below are two related lines from the log file:

Code: Select all

Jan 05, 2024 5:48:02 PM net.filebot.platform.mac.DropToUnlock lambda$updateLockStatus$9
SEVERE: Permission denied: /Users/kouroshm/Downloads/Temp (rwxr-xr-x kouroshm)

System Info:

Code: Select all

FileBot 5.1.2 (r10125)
JNA Native: 6.1.6
MediaInfo: 23.10
Tools: fpcalc/1.5.1 7zz/21.06
Extended Attributes: OK
Unicode Filesystem: OK
Script Bundle: 2023-11-06 (r952)
Groovy: 4.0.15
JRE: OpenJDK Runtime Environment 17.0.8
JVM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM
CPU/MEM: 14 Core / 9 GB Max Memory / 296 MB Used Memory
OS: Mac OS X (x86_64)
HW: Darwin mac-y6f3c3vgh0.local 23.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.2.0: Wed Nov 15 21:54:05 PST 2023; root:xnu-10002.61.3~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6031 x86_64
STORAGE: apfs [/] @ 352 GB | smbfs [/Volumes/Media] @ 3.1 TB
DATA: /Users/kouroshm/Library/Containers/net.filebot.FileBot/Data/Library/Application Support/User Data
Package: MAS
License: Mac App Store License

Sample file paths:

Code: Select all

american_pie_1999.mkv	{"@type":"Movie","year":1999,"imdbId":163651,"tmdbId":2105,"language":"en-US","id":2105,"name":"American Pie","aliasNames":[]}

[rednoah]

Indeed, that looks very strange. I cannot reproduce anything like that on macOS 14.2.1 on an M1 Apple Mini. Specific hardware is unlikely to make a significant difference though.


Just to confirm, you dropped the Temp folder onto FileBot? As opposed to just dropping the american_pie_1999.mkv file? Both should work, but anything is worth a try to see if it makes a difference. Please also try Load button ➔ Select "Temp" folder to choose a folder via the system FileDialog. In the Unlock Dialog you can also click on the folder to open a FileDialog to confirm access. Maybe that'll make macOS work correctly, though I doubt it.

[rednoah]

Ok, thank you. I will contact Apple then. If that is the case and the support for FileBot from App Store, then isn't it the best to stop shipping FileBot from App Store? I mean now I have unnecessary drama to deal with.

Thanks,
Kourosh

Apple doesn't make it possible to be listed on the App Store for existing customers to re-install yet not be for sale to new customers at the same time. Removing FileBot from the App Store would almost certainly be interpreted as "forcing users to buy from the website again" and that's not cool. Keep in mind that this mysterious permission problem is fairly specific to you, and there are thousands of App Store buyers that are using FileBot without issue.

Why not add some kind of warning or hint to the App Store description? Apple review will flag the change with "We noticed that your app's metadata includes the following information, which is not relevant to the app's content and functionality" and that's that. We have tried. We have no control over the App Store.

We did what we could though. We do not link to the App Store from our site at all. We made the recommended life-time licence purchase cheaper than the macOS-only App Store purchase. That is enough to guide most buyers to the recommended purchase option which is buying from us directly.

[kaykal]

The easy solution would be stop offering the app in the App Store and give lifetime license to those who purchased it from App Store for free or at a discounted rate.

Selling an app without support is not cool either. You are selling a product that is simply not working.

I don't think this is specific to me, it might not be common, but a quick search in the forum shows there are couple of instances with a same problem.

Kourosh

[rednoah]

The easy solution would be stop offering the app in the App Store and give lifetime license to those who purchased it from App Store for free or at a discounted rate.

Apple does not share customer data. We do not know who purchased FileBot from the App Store.

You are selling a product that is simply not working.

It is very unfortunate that it does not work for you on your machine. Maybe Apple is selling a product that is simply not working? If something works for many but not for some, then Apple is clearly not providing a stable platform? If an app doesn't work, didn't Apple Review test the app before selling it on the App Store and taking a large cut? Food for thought. FileBot does work on all machines that I have available for testing, I ran tests, and seems to work for mostly everyone else. We can do some more tests if you want though. I'd be very curious to see if we can narrow down the issue a bit. But realistically there's no magic panacea. If I buy an M3 MBP just for testing and debugging I will probably find that it'll just work. If you factory reset your machine, it'll probably just work. But I understand that this is not the solution that most users want to hear.

I don't think this is specific to me, it might not be common, but a quick search in the forum shows there are couple of instances with a same problem.

Based on the screenshots above, I'm fairly certain that I have never seen anything like this before. I remember a recent "FileBot does not even start on MBP M3" report but FileBot starting up is clearly not a problem for you. Please do link the forum topics you have found though. I'll have a look.

[stylesbeyond]

a pretty crappy attitude really, and you the dev still don't offer us who bought from the MAS to get the ARM version with a code supplied. I haven't been able to use it on my m3 Macs x3 of them for months now

[rednoah]

I've issued a 1-year complimentary license for the non-Store version. You can use that for the time being and see if the Store version fixes itself somehow after a year of macOS updates. If the purchase is recent, then I recommend trying Apple Support for a refund. Avoid the Store if possible.

OP has already received a 1-year complimentary license for the non-Store version last week and thus resolved the issue. The rest is just conversation.

a pretty crappy attitude really, and you the dev still don't offer us who bought from the MAS to get the ARM version with a code supplied. I haven't been able to use it on my m3 Macs x3 of them for months now

Do you have the Folder Permissions Required issue, or the Crashes on startup issue, or another issue? Same on all your three pristine M3 Macs? Do you have other Macs Intel / M1 / etc available for testing?


Offering a arm64 package is not possible via the Mac App Store, without removing the x64 package. Apple unfortunately does not allow the upload of multiple packages, and making a single universal package is not possible for technical reasons. The x64 package is used by the majority of users and works on arm64 machines without issue for the majority of M1 / M2 / M3 users, so keeping the x64 package is the best choice.


How much money did you give to Apple for those m3 Macs x3? For perspective. You're welcome to have Apple refund your MAS purchase. You're welcome to have Apple investigate why FileBot doesn't work on your machine when it works on other machines. Apple is a trillion dollar company so surely you will get a great attitude and satisfying experience from them. For perspective.


There is little we can do. But we do what we can. If you want a complimentary 1-year license for the non-Store packages, just send a PM, and we'll issue one for you. That we can do. Then you're good for a year on your m3 Macs x3. No biggie. Apple might even fix things on their end in the meantime.

[stylesbeyond]

I have

3x Intel Macs works fine

1x Mac Studio m1 works fine

1x Mac mini m1 works fine

1x MacBook Pro m2 works fine

1x Mac studio m2 works fine

1x MacBook Pro m3 bounces on dock then closes

1x MacBook m3 same bounces and closes

1x iMac m3 same bounces closes

[rednoah]

1x MacBook Pro m3 bounces on dock then closes

1x MacBook m3 same bounces and closes

1x iMac m3 same bounces closes

I see. Note how the OP has already confirmed that FileBot does launch just fine on his / her M3 Mac, but then runs into issues with the Mac App Store sandbox at runtime. There are screenshots above if you read this thread. You are seeing something different.



Please create a new bug report for this new unique issue. We could look at the system logs. Perhaps there's a clue there. Perhaps not. If the non-Store version somehow works around the underlying macOS / Mac App Store bugs, then just using the non-Store version instead can serve as an easy temporary solution.

[rednoah]

1x MacBook Pro m3 bounces on dock then closes

1x MacBook m3 same bounces and closes

1x iMac m3 same bounces closes

What does ioreg -l say?

Shell: Select all

ioreg -l > ioreg.txt

Please run ioreg -l > ioreg.txt in Terminal. That'll create a text file named ioreg.txt with detailed NIC hardware information.

FileBot Not Running on Sonoma (14.3)