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.

107 Responses to “OS X Password Recovery Discussion”

  1. Jen says:

    I tried to restar using the command-s and it restarts as normal. I have an ibook with mac os 9.2 that was given to me, and I can’t do anything with it because I can’t change the password and I don’t have the disk. Can you help me please?

  2. JUSTIN says:

    I FORGOTTEN MY MASTER PASSWORD AND MY LOGIN PASSWD I DID TRY ONE OF THE SOLUTIONS IT CREATED A NEW ACCOUNT I SIMPLY REMOVED THE OLD ONE BUT I NEED TO FIND THE MASTER PASSWD.

    [email protected]

  3. Goldmember says:

    hi ive got an imac os 9, no password or boot disk. is there a way to override the password on it?

  4. boint says:

    ok i have a problem after i type /sbin/mount -uw / it says illegal option why !?? i have G4 mac os x and it also says usage

  5. johnny says:

    hello guy’s!,i have a power mac g4 i do not know any thing about it!i don’t know what version its running so i dont know where to start .it will boot up to a user box with the user’s name at the top of the box .but i dont know the password or what name they used to log in .i can use the c command to get in the single user thing and do the when i use the 3) mount -uw / illegal option –/
    usage:mount {dfrum}and alot of stuff comes up. then when i run systemstater it does it thing and comes to startup complete .when i type the passwd it says changing password for root new password retype new password then it goes back to sh-2.05a#

  6. johnny says:

    how can i tell what version i am running? it is a power mac g4

  7. johnny says:

    sorry! what is the default password ..

  8. boint says:

    ok i have a problem after i type /sbin/mount -uw / i have G4 mac os x im on my pc with internet right now because i can’t my startup password here is what it says :

    mount: illegal option — /
    usage: mount [-dfruvw] [-o options] [-t ufs external_type] special node
    mount [adfruvw] [-t ufs external_type]
    mount [-dfruvw] special node

    then now it goes back to :
    localhost:/ root#

    ok thats were im now sooo i dont know anything about this but i really need help!!!! please and thank you

  9. jak says:

    hi johnny.. to find what version mac you are running click on the little apple in the left upper corner and select “about this mac”. clicking in the version # will also give you the serial number if you ever need to know that too.

  10. mvdilts says:

    Thanks Mikez007! I acquired an older iMac from a coworker who did not supply the root password. I was able to rename the .applesetupdone file. These are the steps I took:
    (note % represents the start of a command line. It is not something to type in):
    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. Copy 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:
    % cp /var/db/.ORIGapplesetupdone

    4.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

    5.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.

  11. Donny says:

    Here is the combo for G5 with 10.3.9
    /sbin/fsck -y
    enter
    mount -uw
    enter
    /sbin/mount -uw
    enter
    rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
    enter
    reboot
    enter
    should see set up wizard!

  12. Hello there. I finally got this puzzle almost solved. It may help the others. Here it goes:
    in my mac mini, i have a 10.4, so this is what i did to change passwords without the freezing after step 4:

    /sbin/mount -y
    then the command starts

    /sbin/mount -uw / (dont leave any space after the /)
    it will say u made an illigal move, but it will keep going, after 10 seconds.

    then type straight away:

    /usr/libexec/register_mach_bootstrap_servers /etc/mach_init.d

    it will show some of the network tabs, nonsense stuff…

    then type:
    cd /var/db/netinfo
    then:
    netinfod -s local

    then type:
    passwd root
    enter

    it will ask for new passwords, but it will look like frozen, but is not. keep going.

    after new passwords, type reboot.
    It worked fine for me.

  13. Benjy Meigs says:

    Ricardo’s method seems to be getting close to working for me on my mac mini. I get to the password prompt and I can enter a new password and reboot, I’m just not sure i’m doing it right. Do I type “passwd root” or do i replace “root” with the actual username of the root user. All lowercase did not seem to work, but Firstname_Lastname just like it is on the login menu except with an underscore did not seem to work either. Any suggestions?

  14. lonnie says:

    thats gotta be the most helpful thing ive found, i was about to give up on it. thanks alot.

  15. troma says:

    THIS nearly worked but produced a “Sorry” repsonse at the point indicated below. Several ppl have raised this as a problem but nobody has come out with a way past “Sorry”. Please help. (My specs are Ibook G4 running Mac OSX 10.4.6.

    Comment by Rosa Absatz
    2006-11-30 00:22:50

    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”.

    [system says]enter new password
    [system says]enter new password
    [system says] sorry

    I have tried typing a very simple password very carefully in case it was a mismatch of the two password entries but this has not worked.

    • Kham says:

      I had the same problem until I figured out that “my_name” isn’t a proper command. You have to type in “passwd” followed by your user name where “my_name” is. For example, if your user name is PeterSmith you have to type in “passwd_petersmith” and reset the password for that user. Once this is done, type in the reboot command and when you start up again, you will type in your new password. It worked on my Macbook Pro. Good luck.

  16. FuSer says:

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! thanks ****Mike007****.. That works perfectly!!!!

  17. brian dees says:

    THANKS A MILLION IS ALL I CAN SAY I WASTED ALOT OF TIME TOOK ONLY A FEW MINUTES YOUR WAY.SO SIMPLE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IT WORKED.THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME FIX THE FIRST MAC I EVER OWNED.

  18. xavier says:

    hello I am trying to do a password recovery on my old mac os x. I cant get it to go. I punched in the above commands but it does not let me type in a password or username because its still waiting for apache web server. does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

  19. sakthivel says:

    how to forgotten password to be changed

  20. Anne says:

    Elliot,
    I bought a Macbook off of this guy and he scammed me into buying one where I can’t do anything unless I have the admin password. Do you think you can help me? I’ve tried your commands but they haven’t worked.
    PLEASE HELP!

    THANKS!

  21. Karel says:

    can u please help me i got a old mac off a friend and he cant remember the password so i cant update my mac or download stuff PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE……..

  22. matt says:

    i got a mac from a friend who cant remember what the password is so i cant get online with my wireless card because it asks for the password to install the wireless can u help?

  23. cenzo says:

    I have been instructed to copy and then wipe the hard drive if an imac, but i need an administrator account to do this, and it is password protected. And when i go into the bios, the text finishes and the computer freezes and the fan goes into max speed. idk what to do about this

  24. Minty says:

    Today is 9/10/09 A full year after this article was written. MikeZ007’s root commands saved the day! I did not know this area existed in a mac, and now my G4 iBook 10.4.11 is back and running again. Party on MikeZ!!!

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