OS X Password Recovery Discussion
My post on Mac OS X Password Recovery that I made almost a year ago continues to get comments today. It’s a fairly common issue. Since it has reached 126 comments (and the page is getting long), I’ve decided to close comments. You can continue discussion by leaving a comment here.
i have tried everything you said to do i can only get so far i need help after i do passed [username] . all i get is a bunch of words and it goes back to the localhost:/root# what do i do
I just received a Mac from a friend. Version 10.4.1. I have no admin access and no startup disk. The system is defaulted into a user so I can use some parts of the system that don’t require admin access. At the log in screen there are only two users. I am assuming that the other is the admin user. I saw some helpful codes to input and I will try these ones but I have tried others before and I was having problems. I don’t think they were designed for 10.4.1 This computer has a lot of software put on it and I don’t want to loose any of it. Please give me a code that works for this version. I have research programs I need to start on. Thank you for your time!
i was trying to change my password on my G4 powerbook and now i have lost my login password. i tried the year old elliot’s method. /sbin/fsck -fy followed my /sbin/mount -uw / when i type sbin/SystemStarter, nothing i am returned to the localhost# and after a few seconds an error message appears, Cisco systems, [date] VPN client failed to startup or something. what do i do?
I experience what is posted as comment #126 by JD. Does anyone have the answer for that problem?
can ANYONE tell me how to recover or change my administrator password??? Mac g5 osx 10.3.9
My Mac G4 Cube has Jaguar installed (10.2). When I do the passwd command, it tells me command not found. Any input?
This one is what everybody needs !!!!! :
1. Restart the computer in Mac OS X single user mode by holding Command-S at startup.
2.
Mount the computer’s drive for read/write access. To do so, type the following command at the command prompt, and then press Enter:
% mount -uw /
3.
Remove the file that identifies that the initial run of the “Mac OS X Setup Assistant” has been completed, with this command at the command prompt, followed by Enter:
% rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
4.
Restart the computer by entering this command, followed by Enter.
% reboot
5. The Mac OS X Setup Assistant screen should appear after the reboot, just as it does when you start up a brand new computer or upgrade to a new version of Mac OS X.
6. Create a new user account with the Setup Assistant. Be sure to name this user something different than the admin user that already exists on the system, and use a strong password (see Mac OS X password tips). At the end of the Setup Assistant process, the system will automatically log into this new user account. The account will have a unique ID (UID) that is one higher than the last user that was on the system, and will have all administration privileges.
The method that Mikez007 worked for me until I typed “rm /var/db/.applesetupdone” (without quotes). It asked me if I wanted to override something and when I replied “y” or “yes”, It said that the file .applesetupdone was a read-only file…
Any help is much appreciated.
I am running Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.6 if that helps in any way
You will see a notice in your screen when the computer has booted in single mode says exactly what you say about read only filesystem TYPE : /sbin/mount -uw /. Your computer WILL be password free……..
MIKEZ007 IS THE MAN!
It worked for me except I did have to do a WHOLE LOT OF GUESSING
so if ur dumb like me and dont know computer speak translate Mikes instructions into
this
TURN ON YOUR MAC
WHEN YOU HERE CHIME SOUND
PRESS AND HOLD THE APPLE KEY AND THE “S” LETTER
UNTIL YOU SEE LOTS OF SCARY COMPUTER CODE ON A BLACK AND WHITE SCREEN
(WHAT THE HELL IS COMMAND I’M ON A MAC GOD DAMMIT)
TYPE THE FOLLOWING:
/sbin/mount -uw /
ENTER KEY
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
ENTER KEY
reboot
ENTER KEY
your computer will restart and you can create a new user and password by going through the installaion wizard
your welcome.
(FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FOR DUMMIES LIKE ME)
“ENTER KEY” mean type the button which is often called the return or enter key it looks like an arrow that goes round and to the left
dont type “%” what the hell was that about mike?
You are the best, whoever you are!!! I was stuck for like four days, and Apple wouldn’t even help me!!!!! Thanks to your omitting the “%” I finally got it to work.
Thanks!!!!!
It WORK! .Just want to say thank you so much for shering this stuff. To Elliot for started it and you, Luti for made it so really easy.
Now I have a reason to not go sleep. Thanks
hi
thank for your information there but whe i try enter this commant
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
and press enter key
it just stops at this
override rw-r–r– root/ wheel for rm /var/db/.applesetupdone?
and then i reboot and noting happens same password on ibook please help
after i type /sbin/mount -uw/ it keeps saying illegal option — /
what to do
Thanks a bunch Mike ur method was the only one that worked for me and now i am setting up my ne acct. Can’t tell u how happy I am. You are doing a great thing by sharring ur knowledge about mac Thanks again
Sorry, for the “%” sign ! :). This method worked for me on all G4’s and G5’s. Have fun !.
i have been doing every single code since they put it up on the web but nothing has been working!I have a PowerBookG4. PLease help !!
i tried mike 007 way but it does not work here is wat i do
sbin/mount -uw/
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
override?rw——-“I put yes”
applesetupdone is only read me file
reboot
I still cant go past the login menu
Help!!!
Were to Start. I have a powerbook G4 running on a 10.3.9 . I dont remmember my login password and i followed these steps.
# /sbin/fsck -y
# /sbin/mount -uw /
# /usr/libexec/register_mach_bootstrap_servers /etc/mach_init.d
# cd /var/db/netinfo
# netinfod -s local
# SystemStarter
# passwd root
# reboot
every command there works exept the /usr/libexec/register_mach_bootstrap_servers /etc/mach_init.d
When i put that in it says Directory cant be open or something like. Do i need internet to do this or what. Can someone help me please!!I’ve been trying to figure this out for the past 3 days….its very [email protected]
Hi,
Mir you didn’t typed the / in front of : sbin/mount -uw / and ther needs to be a space between the last 2 characters.
So the right way is : /sbin/mount -uw /
Ravens_Stone : The way you tried never worked for me on that version or earlyer versions, did you do what Luti descriped ?. This one works also on Intel Macs.
Thank you, Elliot! Your recipe still works almost unchanged in Mac OS X Intel
on my new MacBook Pro!
Now MacOS X even gives you some clues when booted to single-user mode.
I.e.:
0) Restart…
1) Hit Command-S at boot.
2) “sh /etc/rc” — this command is suggested by MacOS X itself to start important system services but stay in single-user mode.
3) “niutil -list . /users” — find out my user’s name if I was ignorant not to see it before the reboot.
4) “passwd my_name”.
5) “reboot”.
Here we are! :-)
I tried this on a G5 running 10.4.6 and now it does not get past the blue boot screen with the bar at the bottom. Help!
Rosa Absatz’s recipe two messages up works. Thanks!
I just talked my mother through changing her iMac G5 password over the phone.
The only problem was explaining to her how to “Hit Command-S at boot” , which took about 45 minutes.
magicbreadcrumbgoeshere for google
I have never used a Mac in my life and this was the first time I was supposed to use it but the problem was the admin/had forgotten password. It was Mac OSx version 10.3.9. I tried fsk commads etc but didnt’ work but I came across a post which said /var/db/.AppleSetupDone – This file, simply by existing, indicates that the computer has had basic setup performed. If you delete this file, the Setup Assistant will run on the next reboot, allowing you to create a new local admin setup it will setup again.
and I just did rmdir the previous. N.B Possible loss of data.
thankyou!!! worked like a trea!
eveything that was on there was deleted tho!?
thats cool tho!
didnt want it anyways
cheers heaps!
1. I’m trying this method on a 10.3.9 system, which
I got from a friend, who doesn’t know the root pw
OR the root ID
– start in Single-user mode w/Cmd-S on startup
– /sbin/fsck -y (seems to work fine)
– /sbin/mount -uw / (also seems to work fine)
– /sin/SystemStarter (not so good)
When I run the “SystemStarter” command, it just
loops endlessly with “Waiting for LDAP”.
Control-C temporarily stops it, but then the
“Waiting for LDAP message starts up again.
Cold boot seems like the only way out.
– niutil -list . /users
I get nothing until I press ctl-c (then again,
SystemStarter has not completed properly at this
point, so who knows)
4. I’m not a UNIX or Mac guy, but I understand about command line syntax & command prompts, etc., so I don’t think it’s a matter of “you left a space out here”, etc.
I think if there’s an option to turn off LDAP, I could probably be OK. Any ideas?
I don’t want to do the rm … Applesetupdone method, unless
it’s 1000% necessary.
Other questions:
– If you use the rm … applesetupdone method, could you just rename the file, instead of deleting it? I’m thinking you could just rename again, if anything should go wrong. Also, any way to just turn off networking altogether (I’m thinking that would also stop the LDAP attempts). In general, how do you stop/start services?
hi my mac book is 10.4.7 and i’ve forgotten my password, i’v tried all the methods but there nt working.
can someone plz help me
thnx
Az
I got a PowerBook G4 from a friend. I don’t know the Administrator password, but at boot the login screen is skipped. I try a logoff but i need to restart to login (automatically). I got the laptop with friend’s user name, and i want to change this. I don’t want to try super-tricks on my laptop, because i don’t have at least a Mac OS X Setup CD. Some other ideas?