Having problems with setting Keychain password on mac. Help?
I have a mac os x and i used the installation disk 10.6.3 to reset the account password to login, and it said that i would have to also reset the keychain one as well to make sure it’s the same as the account password – which as far as i’m concerned i did! I’ve looked online and followed the instructions now 10 times over (going to utilities, selecting keychain access then edit – change keychain password. and i also tried preferences – reset my default keychain) to set it the same as the account one and it seemed to be set.
But whenever i try and do something that it needs administrator name & password it doesn’t accept the password! I’m no expert with this sort of thing so can someone please suggest what i might need to check or something else i could try? I’m currently trying to put together a edited video for my grandparents 50th anniversary and it needs to be done in the next week, as i need to use final cut for this and it wont let me use it without the password – you have no idea how much i would appreciate some help right now :(
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8 Answers
Do you have more than one account on the computer?
Is the account you are logging in with an administrative account? You’re being asked for your admin PW, not your keychain PW. If you aren’t sure, open System Preferences, click on Accounts and see if your account says Admin underneath.
well this is the strange thing – I’m the only user on the mac but it says standard underneath. The option ‘allow user to administer this computer’ is blanked out so i can’t click it. And when I try to change anything it obviously asks me for the administrators password so i can’t do anything.
I had the same problem, so I consulted my most savvy computer user. He’s an M.I.T. graduate and does animation for George Lucas. He said it was a glitch in the computer and just ignore it. When you’re asked for it, just press the cancel button. I’ve done that ever since with no ill effects
Is this your computer? Does anyone else use it? Is it set to auto-login, type your name to log in, or choose from a list of users to log in?
See if this note from Apple Support helps:
Mac OS X 10.5: Administrator user changes to standard
Symptoms
After performing an upgrade installation (the default type) of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, an administrator account may change to a standard one.
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Sounds like you’re on 10.6.3, but maybe it’s just a long-lived bug they haven’t addressed yet.
robmandu:
I tried that but when i went to enable allow user to administer i had to unlock it to make changes, and of course it asked for the name and password which again it didn’t accept.
crisw:
yes it is my computer and no one else uses it. I have to type my password to login, my name comes up automatically. It doesn’t show any other users on the login and I’m pretty certain i haven’t created any other accounts.
sunny2:
I always try just cancelling but then it just doesn’t do what I wanted to do.
Thanks everyone for trying to help, i really appreciate it.
Hmmm… you’ve got a choice then:
NORMAL:
– Make backup copies of all your files, photos, music, etc.
– Format the drive and reinstall the OS from scratch.
– Reinstall your applications and restore your files from backup.
DEVIOUS:
– Find a zero day exploit…
– that will provide a way for you to hack into your Mac…
– and escalate your privileges to be root…
– at which point you can do anything if you know how.
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I recommend the NORMAL approach so as to ensure compatibility with more OS updates in the future.
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