SlightlyStupid

Q: Can't login after installing Mac OS X Server

Just some background info:

 

I have had a mac mini for 2 years now and I backup to an external hard drive using Time Machine. My wife just got a new Macbook Air and I wanted to make sure her she was covered with Time Machine, but without having to unplug my external hard drive or buy a new one exclusively for her. I also don't want to pay the money for a Time Capsule as I already have a fantastic router. I read that I could accomplish what I want using Mac OS X Server and it's centralized Time Machine service.

 

Well I paid $20, installed OS X Server, created her a user account and enabled the Time Machine Service. I left all other Server services disabled as far as I know... Then I (foolishly?) decided to wipe my external drive with my mac mini's time machine backups figuring it may be best to start with a freshly formatted drive when setting this up. So I formatted my external drive, and started to do my 1st initial backup for my mac mini. I only have about 60GB to backup and it was hanging 1/4 done for hours so I figured something was wrong. I stopped the backup and decided to reboot. After rebooting, I'm prompted to login to my wife's account. This is strange because 1) My mac mini usually auto logs into my account 2) I've never logged into her account on my mac mini. 3) I never intended to have an account for her on my mac mini. So now I have no idea how to login to my mac mini using my username. I tried typing in the password I created for her on OS X server but it says "Your account does not have a valid home directory. Contact your system administrator for more information". All I see is my wife's name and the option to login to her... Which I can't. The only other options I get are Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down. I'm freaking out right now, how can I change the user to my user? Or as the administrator? I can't get into my mac at all right now.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Dec 15, 2014 8:41 PM

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Q: Can't login after installing Mac OS X Server

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  • by dot.com,

    dot.com dot.com Dec 15, 2014 9:20 PM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 2 (434 points)
    Dec 15, 2014 9:20 PM in response to SlightlyStupid

    Never mind most of the stuff below - you have OS X server and none of what I said there applies to server (or very little). Have your read the OS X server article at http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/a-power-users-guide-to-os-x-server-yosemite -edition/1/

     

    But it might so perhaps it might give you an idea of where to look in OS X server setup stuff. Will try and reply with more info tomorrow after I read the OS X server article above, or perhaps someone else will have helped you by then.

     

    Good luck...

     

    Here is what I said previously - some of it's concepts might apply still but I'm really getting tired and have to call it a day

     

    It sounds to me that adding the second account for your wife changed the default login to her user rather than yours.

     

    So on the login screen do you see icon(s) for the two user(s) or do you see two white boxes or fields where you have to enter username in first and password in the second and her name is already filled into the first white box?

     

    If the latter, then you can just change the first to your old user name and then your password in the second box/field and then in Security & Privacy in System Preferences uncheck the "Disable automatic login" box (you may have to unlock this pane - click the padlock on bottom left and enter your password) - then select which user you want for the auto login (which will be your user not the wifes).

     

    Also it sounds like you didn't assign a default home directory for your wife's account and you can correct that on her login - in the Users & Groups System Preference, click on her username and then right-click or control-click and select "Advanced Options" and fill in the blank home directory field. You should have been prompted when you created her username for the option to create her home directory and sounds like you skipped that part.

     

    If you don't remember your username (cause you've always had it setup to auto login there is a way to figure that out too but don't want to say how cause its more typing and my fingers are getting tired from typing so much).

     

    Does that help?

  • by SlightlyStupid,

    SlightlyStupid SlightlyStupid Dec 15, 2014 10:23 PM in response to dot.com
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 15, 2014 10:23 PM in response to dot.com

    Dot,

     

    First thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately I only see an icon on the login screen. It's just 1 icon, and it's my wife's username that I assume was just created with the OS X Server application. There is only a text field for password. No text field for username. I know exactly what my username is, I just don't know where to put it. And if I try to log in to her account using the password I created for her. It says "Your account does not have a valid home directory. Contact your system administrator for more information".

     

    I'm trying to think of what I did that may have caused this. I *might* have set my own username to "use services only" when I was setting up my wife's account in the OS X Server application. That's the only thing I can think of. I have a very eerie feeling about this. Is there a way to uninstall OS X Server (and completely remove any permissions/changes it made to my mac) from command line that I can some how activate after booting the machine without logging in?

  • by SlightlyStupid,

    SlightlyStupid SlightlyStupid Dec 15, 2014 10:26 PM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 15, 2014 10:26 PM in response to SlightlyStupid

    Or a way to set default home directory/user from command line on boot. Looking for anything to lead me to a solution.

  • by SlightlyStupid,

    SlightlyStupid SlightlyStupid Dec 16, 2014 11:17 AM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 16, 2014 11:17 AM in response to SlightlyStupid

    Any ideas? Feeling very hopeless.

     

    if I install the OS X server on my wife's MacBook air, will I be able to change any settings aesociated with my Mac mini's server? Or will it just be 2 seperate instances?

     

    All I want to be able to do is be able to login to my original account on my Mac mini.

  • by SlightlyStupid,

    SlightlyStupid SlightlyStupid Dec 16, 2014 10:11 PM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 16, 2014 10:11 PM in response to SlightlyStupid

    Well, I finally figured out how to login again. First I used target disk mode to make a backup of my important files before I did anything. Then what I ended up doing was booting to single-user mode and using someone's method to create a 2nd administrator account. After rebooting this allowed me to create a new administrator, login, and change the settings preventing me from logging in.

     

    I did in fact set my ONLY local account's home folder to "None - Services Only" instead of "Local Only" on the Server. Switched it back and now my account pops up on login screen. Good grief. I think I've put in about 10 hours trying to figure out something I could do besides formatting. So glad that worked.

  • by dot.com,

    dot.com dot.com Dec 17, 2014 10:16 AM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 2 (434 points)
    Dec 17, 2014 10:16 AM in response to SlightlyStupid

    Good to hear you finally able to log back in. Where did you find out what to do? Can you give any details here that might help someone else?

     

    Congrats and happy holidays...

  • by Oregon Duck,

    Oregon Duck Oregon Duck May 4, 2016 3:55 PM in response to SlightlyStupid
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 4, 2016 3:55 PM in response to SlightlyStupid

    I did the exact same thing!  However, I used the 2nd account to simply load the Server app, from the Applications folder, logged in with my account (whew!) and went to Users, then doubled-clicked on my account and reset it to use the Home Folder as "Local Only".  Then I was able to logout of the 2nd account and login with my account.  All is well!