OS X password wont recognize!

asaph

I can't figure this one out for the life of me. I have had the same admin password on my Power Mac since I bought it (over a year ago). Now - tonight when i tried to do a software update, I typed in my short name as usual and my password... three times. then my little secret question pops up, which makes it very obvious to me what the password is. still, no dice.



So next I try changing my password... works fine! It changes juuuuuust fine. but I -still- can't get in to do a software update or change any preferences. Any ideas? im typing my short name as it appears on the upper right of my screen... no caps lock or anything like that... I'm at a loss.

just_nobody

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asaph


Any ideas? im typing my short name as it appears on the upper right of my screen... no caps lock or anything like that... I'm at a loss.

Let's say you try and create another admin account. is it the same for that one?

asaph

I'd rather not try to create a new account... Once you do you cant get rid of it completely, right? I'm even worried to log out and log back in...

asaph

annnnnnd now I've done it. I decided to log out, figuring I have another account on there already for my wife. Now I can't log in to my admin account OR my wife's account. Her password won't work either. I'm on the laptop currently.



Here's my biggest, hugest concern. I'm a photographer, and I have a couple gigs of photos that are not yet backed up. I NEED to get back in there. is there any known glitch or virus that would have changed my passwords? Any way to sneak back in and change this stuff? I can't use my powermac at all until I get this figured out...



Would I be able to remotely log into the powermac from this computer somehow? Boot the powermac as a slave drive to the macbook?



Please help, I'm in dire straits here.



Forrest

asaph

Really? No one has any ideas? I've got my reinstall CDs, but I don't think that would preserve my files...

karelia

Pop in and boot from the reinstall discs and choose the Reset Password option from the Utilities menu, and reset your password. If that doesn't work, do the same thing, but reset the password for the "System Administrator", which will activate the root login account.



If you'd rather backup your files first, boot the PowerMac in Target Disk Mode by starting it and holding "T" as soon as you power it on.

asaph

I ended up lugging the powermac to the genius bar and after about an hour of toying with it, was informed that the portion of my OS that handles user accounts is corrupted... so I -have- to do a wipe and reinstall. I'm all backed up, so I guess I get to do that now. Thanks to those who helped!