Help! (Forgot Master password)
Fun fun fun...I forgot my master password! 
I can't reset it with the OS X install CD, and logging in as root doesn't change anything.
I don't really need to fix this (I never use Filevault), but I'd like to know that everything on my comp is under control.
PS: I'd rather not reinstall the OS
Cheers
I can't reset it with the OS X install CD, and logging in as root doesn't change anything.I don't really need to fix this (I never use Filevault), but I'd like to know that everything on my comp is under control.
PS: I'd rather not reinstall the OS
Cheers
Comments
Originally posted by Placebo
Fun fun fun...I forgot my master password!
I don't really need to fix this (I never use Filevault), but I'd like to know that everything on my comp is under control.
PS: I'd rather not reinstall the OS
Cheers
Have you tried changing or cracking the password via Single User Mode or the CLI?
A step-by-step explaination for the exploit is here.
(And shouldn't this be in Genius Bar?)
Placebo is screwed basically because OS X can no longer read the home directories. Having not used FileVault, and not intending to use FileVault, I don't know of any way of killing FileVault without knowing the master password.
Barto
Originally posted by Barto
Phroggy, Placebo is talking about the master password, not the root password. The master password decrypts the other passwords used by FileVault.
Ah, thanks, Barto, my bad.
(I haven't used FileVault yet, nor do I plan to; too many horror stories.)
My password is a simple word, but a word that doesn't really exist because it came to me in a dream years and years ago. I woke up and said "what in the hell is a...".
I think the word you're looking for, Placebo, is "screwed". Apple makes it a point of saying in several places "if you lose or forget this, your data is gone forever" or words to that effect.
Originally posted by pscates
How can anyone "forget" their own password, master or otherwise? Unless you just made a weird random series of letters and numbers like the bank does? In which case, you might should've written it down somewhere.
My password is a simple word, but a word that doesn't really exist because it came to me in a dream years and years ago. I woke up and said "what in the hell is a...".
I think the word you're looking for, Placebo, is "screwed". Apple makes it a point of saying in several places "if you lose or forget this, your data is gone forever" or words to that effect.
No. no you don't understand. I've set my master password, but I'm not using flevault on any of my accounts. So I'm really not screwed in anyway, but I'm losing sleep thinking of what I set my password.
Can anyone think of synonyms to "decrypt"? That's what my hint is.
Damn you, murbot!
That's NOT it...but it's better than mine!
Look, if i clone my hd onto a fw hd, then connect it to any other mac i can read all my files without any passwords...
That makes me think...
WHY IS THIS POSSIBLE? are permissions ignored on external hds?
or am i imagining things?
are permissions ignored on external hds?
Yes! That is, if you want them to be:
Mind the 'ignore ownership' checkbox.
No sign yet of a larger HD, btw, keeping my fingers crossed.
YOU DIDN'T GET IT YET?!?!?!
i will dig up tracking # for you.
(probably tomorrow, as today i have to work...after work)
And back to ignoring ownership... It doesn't make too much sense, because...
What's the point of password protecting my stuff if someone can just make a copy of it and access it?
It should retain permissions, possibly with an option of changing them, but you would need your password for it.
Sorry Placebo, for hijacking your thread.
Your concern with security is kind of what prompted FileVault.
Originally posted by piwozniak
Hmmm
Look, if i clone my hd onto a fw hd, then connect it to any other mac i can read all my files without any passwords...
That makes me think...
WHY IS THIS POSSIBLE? are permissions ignored on external hds?
or am i imagining things?
this is inherent in unix (and unix-like, probably other systems') security. the users on your computer are stored in a special database, on your computer. for example, lets say you have 1 user "piwozniak". under the scenes the OS translates the name into an ID, example 501. these IDs are only valid locally. so, when a file is owned by piwozniak, under the scenes, it's owned by 501; and in the dirty 1s and 0s of the OS' mind, piwozniak, his home directory, his password, everything, is just a extra information, directly associated with that ID. But, when you pull out the hd, and pop it into another computer not as the root (boot/startup) partition, the OS has to think about the permissions.
it says to itself, "i have a file here, owned by 501. i wonder if they mean 501 as defined in my set of users, or 501 by some foreign set of users. afterall, i can't be certain that my 501 aligns properly with this foreign disk's 501, i don't even know if i can access a user database on this disk. and if i could, i don't know if the user really wants me to. maybe i'll just ignore the permissions on this drive, and let the users run willy nilly all over the place. or, i could force all files owned by 501 to refer to my 501, and assume that they align. even if i have an ID 501, i don't know if the passwords will match up. i just hope i dont run into any IDs on this hd that i don't have in my database. o woe is me, the lowly OS."
I understand.
i was thinking about it for the last 30 min, and it makes sense,
Even if a file's owner is a user,(not system) how can an OS compare that users' password to the original password? it would have to be attached to the file itself.
How about disallowing access to files on external volumes, if not owned by system?
That would prevent anyone from accessing my stuff.
Right, but then how would i access my own files from external HD?
Thanks guys as always.
Originally posted by Bill M
decrypt = decode, break, crack, cryptanalyze, decipher
Awesome! I think it's decipher! Thanks a bunch!
Originally posted by Placebo
Awesome! I think it's decipher! Thanks a bunch!
Now that you've posted that to a world-readable board, change it.
Originally posted by Amorph
Now that you've posted that to a world-readable board, change it.
Never mind. Didn't work. DAMMIT!
(BTW, my computer isn't online, which SUCKS!)
Never mind. Didn't work. DAMMIT!
(BTW, my computer isn't online, which SUCKS!)
There is an easy way to reset the master password on a mac. Visit
http://homepage.mac.com/bethanyoffic...20Corporation/ for instructions on how to reset a lot of passwords on a mac. I compiled it myself. IF you want' you can donate via PayPal for research on some of the matters that do not have answers. (I need another mac to test everything out on). Anyway, you will find how to reset the master password there.
Lomoco
Mac_Hack corporation
[email protected]