Admin / terminal?

[thabridawg]

Hi.. for some reason I can't login directly onto my admin account.

However, when I login to another account that I have on my computer (non-admin) I can go in the terminal and then enter in my admin login and password.

Is there a way that I can create another admin user from the terminal?

[timbloom]

Get out your OS X install CD and there is a reset password utility on there. Under the file menu.

[thabridawg]

doesn't work - same problem happens

i don't think it's a password issue, because wouldn't the login screen move around if i typed in a wrong password?

Plus... I can login to admin through another acount in the terminal.

[timbloom]

odd! I am sure there is a way to create a user from the terminal, but I would not know how, it should be similar to any other unix if that is any help.

[conceptdev]

Have you tried tinkering through the netinfo utility? OSX does all of its user authentication via netinfo, it only consults /etc/passwd when booting into single user mode.

chpass is a CLI tool to add or change user database information. Probably have to be root or sudo to make it work, check the man pages.

[timbloom]

I would also see if you can repair permissions and see if that works.

[thabridawg]

i've repaired the permissions twice... used the disk utiltity three times and used diskwarrior as well.

[timbloom]

At worst you can reinstall your os on top of your old one and see if that fixes it.

[thabridawg]

will a 10.2 upgrade CD let me install over my current 10.2 system?

or will i need a complete 10.2 install CD to do it?

[thabridawg]

my 10.2 CD isn't letting me reinstall over 10.2.4 =(

[vniow]

You can use your upgrade CD as a full installer, you just need a CD burner.

Try this:


(This only applies to Jaguar disc one. Disc two does NOT check for a previously installed OS.)

1. Insert the Mac OS 10.2 Update CD (disc one)
2. Open Disk Copy (found in the Utilities folder)
3. Select "File - Image - New Image from Device"
4. Select your CD-ROM drive from the dialog
5. Image as "DVD/CD Master"

Now modify the contents:

1. Control-click on the resulting disc image
2. Make certain that the disc image is mounted
3. Navigate with the Finder to "System - Installation - Package Contents"
4. Select the "Essentials.pkg" file
5. Control-click on the "Essentials.pkg" file and select "Show Package Contents"
6. In the pop-up Finder window, navigate to "Contents - Resources"
7. Here is where we find the culprit! Drag the file titled "Check for OSX" to the Trash; close all finder windows.

To burn your fully functional Jaguar disc:

1. Return to Disk Copy and select "File - Image - New Image from Device"
2. Select the mounted volume you opened above and create another "DVD/CD Master" image
3. Now select "Image - Burn Image"
4. Select the newly modified .dmg file
5. Burn to CD ... that's it!