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tiger account password problem - serious

F

funkypepper

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 6, 2007
182
137
Hi everyone. I have a serious problem with my account password.

Today, i installed toast 8 & titanium program and opened the configuration wizard. when it reached the plug-in installation step, i normally choosed some and tried to continue. the password-asking window opened, i typed my account password, (which i everytime enter while logging in) but it did not accept that.

i was shocked because it was the same password i enter while log in process.
and i tried to change it from system preferences but it did not work either.
i restarted my password several times with installation disk but it did not work..

now the status is like this:

accepts password while log in
accepts my main password(filevault)
accepts my key-chain password
do not accepts my account password whle trying to install something

what should i do
thanks
 
Is your account the default administrator account on the machine or one that was created? Sounds like you aren't the super user to me.
 
do you have administrator privledges? If you go under the Accounts in System Preferences, under password at the bottom there should be a checkmark next to "allow user to administer the computer" If not, there should be a super user account (the first account set up at installation) where you can login and a) install software or b) give the other account administrator access.
 
askretzinger said:
If not, there should be a super user account (the first account set up at installation) where you can login and a) install software or b) give the other account administrator access.
Click to expand...


The first account set up (UID 501) is not a "super user", it is just a regular admin account. The user "root" (UID 0) is the only "superuser".

Sounds to me like the original poster isn't an admin on the box.

Please show us the output of id from the Terminal.
 
yes i am the administrator and there's no other user with me.

i am trying to unlock the lock sign in accounts tab, to change my account information (hope problem is here) but it does not accept my password.

in mac help, it says that the administrator password is the same with the account password if you are both the administrator.

i've rebooted with install disk lots of times, done it a few minutes ago, this time i changed the system administrator(root) password but it did not work again.

i am sure there's a small point which cannot be seen.

and it still accepts the pass while log in..grr.. if you're not gonna accept it do it from the beginning....im gonna go mad
 
uid=501(emir) gid=501(emir) groups=501(emir), 81(appserveradm), 79(appserverusr), 80(admin)
Click to expand...

here's the id

yes, i have also that sign checked under my account, but i cannot change it?

by the way what's the difference between superuser and administrator?
 
i've already logged in as the administrator but it still does. one question - if i reinstall tiger, will my files affect from this ?

Mac OS X 10.4.8 :)
 
Passante said:
Log in as the administrator and install the software. It should not prompt you for a password.
Click to expand...

He is an admin. And one should be prompted for a password if the installer requires the ability to write to protected directories. Not being prompted for any sort of admin authentication is part of the trouble with Windows being exploited so easily by spyware/adware/trojans/etc.

funkypepper said:
i've already logged in as the administrator but it still does. one question - if i reinstall tiger, does my files will be affected?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do that yet.

Have you tried turning off FileVault and THEN attempting the installation?
 
What if you were to boot off the OSX DVD? There's a password reset utility in there.

BEFORE YOU TRY THAT THOUGH

Can anyone confirm whether that will hurt Filevault?
 
yes the filevault was already off, when i attemped to install the software.

the more serious the situation is my hands are tied :) i cannot change the damn key.
 
dynamicv said:
What if you were to boot off the OSX DVD? There's a password reset utility in there.

BEFORE YOU TRY THAT THOUGH

Can anyone confirm whether that will hurt Filevault?
Click to expand...

i've tried that many times.. and it does not affect the filavault(main) password. it only changes the account password.



and because of the reason filevault stays locked, it does not prompt me for the root password, in case of a wrong entering of the account password.
 
When was the last time you repaired permissions?

sudo diskutil repairpermissions /

When prompted, enter your admin password.
 
hmm it did not work.

isn't there a way to reset all passwords by using the main password in terminal?
 
yes it first asked me to verify, and then i entered the command you wrote.

it finished the session, seems succesfull, what should i do now :)
 
You can try enabling the root user, and using those credentials to authenticate yourself. To do this without having to enter a password, perform the following steps:

•*Shut down your computer
• Turn your computer on, and when you hear the chime hold down command-s. Keep holding these keys down until you see a black screen with white text. This will boot you into Single User Mode
• You can let go of the keys now. After the white text stops scrolling by (if it is scrolling at all), you should see shell prompt at the bottom of the screen. Its a bit of text followed by a :#
• Type in the command /sbin/mount -uw / and hit Enter to make your startup disk writeable. By default, disks in Single User Mode are read-only, and since we want to make some changes (the root password) you have to make the startup disk read-write.
• Type in passwd 123456 and hit return to set the root password to 123456. You don't have to use 123456, but make it something you can remember and will be hard for someone else to guess.
• Type in shutdown -r now to restart your computer normally.

The root user has now been enabled. You can log in as root if you have set your login window to display text boxes (rather than a list of users). You can also use root to authenticate password sheets. Just replace your auto-filled-in name with 'root' and type in root's password.

-- Note:

Yes, I'm well aware that I just posted an easy way to backdoor into any Mac without knowing the administrator password or having an Install CD/DVD on hand, but it requires physical access to the machine, and it requires any OpenFirmware locks to be disabled. If someone already has physical access to your machine, any notion of security short of encryption is right out.
 
thank you very much. i solved the problem after another boot with install disk, but i am going to note these in case of any other crisis situation.

thanks again.
 
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