Error -54 can typically seem once you edit your Apple Music Library in your Mac. This is get previous the problem and again to listening to your music.
In case you use Apple’s Music app on macOS, you will have encountered error -54 once in a while. This error can happen in response to a number of actions in Music:
- When including or eradicating information to your Music Library
- When including or modifying file metadata in Get Data home windows in Music
- When syncing your Music Library to iOS gadgets
Within the first two instances, error -54 is nearly all the time associated to permissions errors on the information or folders in your Mac’s storage machine. This will embody permissions on information themselves or on their containing folders.
Actually, the -54 error is without doubt one of the oldest errors within the Macintosh filesystem courting again a long time as first documented in Apple’s guide Inside Macintosh: Recordsdata:
permErr = -54, /*permissions error (on file open)*/
This can be a basic file permission error which means an operation on a file or folder could not be accomplished as a result of filesystem permissions are stopping it.
For instance, in Music, if you happen to drag information or folders containing information from the Finder into the Apple Music app’s primary window, you will have seen error -54 crop up. The identical error can occur typically if you choose information in Music’s primary window after which hit the Delete key or choose “Delete from Library” from Music’s contextual popup menu by Management-clicking on an merchandise.
Get Data
You might also have seen error -54 when you choose a file in Music’s primary window and attempt to edit its metadata through the Get Data window:
Music’s Get Data window for modifying file metadata.
That is normally the identical situation as above: locked information, folders, or permissions errors on these gadgets within the filesystem.
To repair each of the above errors, you may want to alter the permissions within the Finder. You then return to Music and add or take away your information or re-open the Get Data window and edit the information’ metadata once more.
Music’s Get Data metadata editor window.
To take action in Music, Management-click or right-click the gadgets whose permissions you wish to repair, then choose “Present in Finder” from the context popup menu. macOS will change to Finder and reveal the information you chose.
Subsequent, choose a number of of the revealed information in Finder, then Management-click on them and choose “Get Data from the Finder’s popup menu. This opens the Finder’s Get Data window.
Choose “Get Data” from the Finder popup menu.
If it is not already proven within the Get Data window, flip the small arrow to the left of the Sharing & Permissions part on the backside to disclose the permissions pane.
A small lock icon seems on the backside of this pane, within the decrease proper nook. Click on it and enter your admin password to unlock the permissions pane:
Sharing & Permissions pane in Finder’s Get Data window.
Now change the highest merchandise (“Me”) to Learn & Write by clicking on the highest line beneath the “Privilege” label. Shut the Get Data window. You possibly can repeat these steps on every file, or on a folder containing gadgets in Finder.
You possibly can inform if a folder is locked or lacks write permissions by opening the folder and looking out within the lower-left nook for the pencil icon with a slash via it. In case you’re not exhibiting a folder’s Toolbar then the pencil icon might seem within the window’s higher proper or decrease proper nook.
The locked folder icon in Finder.
Now you may return to the Apple Music app and check out your operation once more. Word within the case of modifying file metadata in Get Data home windows in Music you will have to shut any open Get Data home windows and re-open them for the permissions adjustments to take impact.
Syncing
Typically you may even see the identical -54 error once you attempt to sync your Music Library to an iOS machine. That is normally within the type of an error corresponding to:
“The iPhone [device name] can’t be synced. An unknown error occurred (-54).”
This may be brought on by the identical permissions errors as above, or different issues such because the goal machine being full, a foul USB cable or unstable cable connection, or different issues. Apple technote HT205597 additionally says this may occur in case your Apple Music folder accommodates information in several areas inside the Music folder on disk.
On this case, you may have to give up Apple Music, consolidate your information in your Apple Music folder, then open Apple Music and check out once more. You might have to take away and re-add all of the gadgets in Music earlier than you do that.
By default Apple Music shops information within the consumer’s /Music/Media folder – however this location could be modified in Apple Music’s Settings window.
Backup and restore
In case you nonetheless cannot resolve error -54 after attempting all the above, there’s one latch ditch resolution: again up your total Music folder, delete it out of your Mac, and re-add all its content material to Apple Music.
To take action, again up your consumer’s Music folder from the Music folder to an exterior storage machine, delete your entire Music folder, restart your Mac, then run the Apple Music app once more. This forces Music to create a brand new Music folder within the consumer folder with appropriate permissions.
Lastly, copy the contents of your backed-up Music folder into the newly created Music folder within the consumer folder, then open the Apple Music app and re-add all of your content material.
In case your backed-up content material nonetheless has permissions locks on it, make sure you unlock all the things first utilizing the steps above earlier than copying the information again to your Mac’s consumer Music folder.
Superior: change file permissions in Terminal
Clearly, when you have plenty of Music content material, resetting every file or folder’s file permissions in Finder Get Data home windows could be fairly time-consuming. One various is to make use of Terminal to batch-change file and folder permissions.
Be warned: altering file permissions in Terminal is highly effective and if you happen to’re not cautious you may injury the software program in your Mac and even delete information unwittingly.
To bulk-change file permissions in Terminal you utilize the chmod and chgrp instructions.
chmod is brief for change file modes and chgrp is brief for change group. You possibly can learn extra about use each in Terminal by typing man adopted by an area, adopted by both command title, after which urgent Return in your keyboard.
To make use of chmod or chgrp you may have to learn about UNIX file and group permissions which we cannot get into right here.
Suffice it to say every file or folder in UNIX has an proprietor, a bunch, and three units of permissions: proprietor, group, and everybody or “world” permissions.
In Terminal, if you happen to kind ls -l and press Return whereas in any folder, Terminal will listing all information and folders and their permissions within the Terminal window:
Itemizing utilizing ls -l to listing folder contents in macOS’s Terminal app.
On the far left are the three units of permissions for every merchandise in a folder: proprietor, group, and everybody. If an merchandise has a “d” to the far left it means it is a listing as a substitute of a file or alias.
Permissions on every merchandise for every of the three sorts could be any mixture of “rwx” which implies “learn, “write”, or “execute”. There are three units of them listed, so as in Terminal for the three sorts talked about above.
If any of those permissions shows a “-” it implies that permission is turned off.
Utilizing the chmod and chgrp instructions you may change these units of permissions in Terminal. These are successfully the identical permissions as proven within the Sharing & Permissions pane in Finder Get Data home windows.
You may as well use the ls command with out the -l flag to show a folder’s itemizing in Terminal with simply the merchandise names with out all of the permissions information.
Error -54 is basically a file permission error within the filesystem and through the use of numerous means to reset the permissions you need to be capable of resolve it with out an excessive amount of hassle.
