Resetting Password After Recovery

[merc669]

Just got my MBP back from repair. I used SuperDuper to backup to my XP machine on the network. However, it will not complete the loading after a clean install and restore from Disk Utility. I have booted to Single User Mode and run "fsck -fy" and the Disk is Okay. Still no luck. Booted into "Safe Mode" and I get to the Login Window and SAFE MODE is written on the top. But my login and password are not accepted. I think the Password File is corrupted. I know the login and password are correct and have also tried root for the login with no luck. Is there a way to reset the Password File after booting up in Single User Mode? I know on most Unix system the Password File is in the /etc directory. But not real good with "vi". Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!!

Bill.......

 

[Westside guy]

I know on most Unix system the Password File is in the /etc directory. But not real good with "vi". Any ideas or suggestions?

Unix systems (not talking about OS X in this instance) utilize a one-way hash for storing passwords. If the password is relatively weak, you can brute force it; but there's no way to recover a Unix password even if you can see what's in the password file (and on most Linux systems nowadays, they'll be using shadow passwords so there's no hash of the password in /etc/password anyway).

I'm not totally clear on what your question is though. At one point you're obviously talking about XP ("Safe Mode"), and it sounds like you're trying to recover your OS X password somehow through XP (from the backup image I guess). But I don't see how you think that's supposed to get you to your goal.

 

[Blubbert]

Couldn't you use the Reset Password utility afted booting from the Restore CD to solve the problem?

 

[merc669]

Let me Clarify;
Backup is on an XP Machine on the Network using SuperDuper for making the Image. However it will never complete the loading after a rebooting. I have booted to Single User Mode and Run "fsck" which shows the system disk is fine. Still cannot complete a reboot afterwards. Next I launched "Safe Mode" by Holding down the "Shift-Key" until the Login Prompt came up. Entered my login name and password on the MBP. It looks like the passwod is incorrect. I have used Linux in the past and know that both the "Password" and "Shadow" Files are in the /etc Directory and yes they are garbled. But, if its like Linux or BSD then you should be able to go into these files and delete in the proper field the passwords. I also just tried running "Reset Password" as Blubbert suggested. But according to the utility there is no user accounts on the HD. Maybe this would be easier; Can you mount the system "Writeable" in Single User Mode and use "adduser" to add a new user/ or how would you add a user. I think that is the problem sice it will boot to the Safe Login but knows nobody.... Thanks!!

Update; I did a reinstall this time but the Archive and Update method. Once it completed it rebooted but still no user account with password. I restarted with Disk 1 and this time it saw Root as a valid user so I reset that password and was able to login. Then I recreated my user account using th esame and I am back at least to my desktop. However it recreated my home folder but it saved some of the old on a Previous System. Is there a way to find that info and regain my documents and possible other info? Thanks Much!!


Bill.....