administrative user can't access other accounts or delete remote login

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Level 1

112 points

administrative user can't access other accounts or delete remote login

I have the administrative user account on my iMac at home. My daughter can't remember the new password I assigned her and needs me to change it. When I log into system preferences/accounts, it shows that I am the administrative user. However, when I try to access her account or the Guest account on the computer they are gray and I can't select them. I can't add any new accounts or delete any existing ones either.

I also noticed that remote login SSH is turned on. I tried to uncheck that box multiple times but my iMac just freezes. I have to force quit system preferences.

Any ideas on how I fix this?

15 inch MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2.8-24" iMac; 2.4-24" iMac; 8G iPhone; MacBook Air; Apple TV; 13" MB; Mac Mini

Posted on May 22, 2009 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Jun 6, 2009 11:15 AM in response to redxk8

redxk8 wrote:
I tried that as well. Everything is still greyed out. Even when I am logged into my own administrator account even the login options are greyed out. Is there some setting somewhere that is engaged that has to be disengaged that has all of these functions locked down?

no, there isn't. something is wrong with your system. try enabling the root account and logging in as root. see if you can do those things while logged in as root.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1528?viewlocale=en_US

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Answer 2

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

May 22, 2009 11:17 AM in response to redxk8

I have the administrative user account on my iMac at home. My daughter can't remember the new password I assigned her and needs me to change it. When I log into system preferences/accounts, it shows that I am the administrative user. However, when I try to access her account or the Guest account on the computer they are gray and I can't select them. I can't add any new accounts or delete any existing ones either.

Have you clicked the padlock in the lower-left of the Accounts window to unlock that preference?

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Answer 3

redxk8 Author

Level 1

112 points

May 26, 2009 4:24 PM in response to varjak paw

Yes. I should have started out by saying that after I unlock the accounts in preferences, I can make changes to my own user account as the admin but I cannot administer any other user accounts. I can't add accounts, delete accounts, change passwords, etc. The other user accounts remain grayed out and the + & - signs at the bottom are grayed out.

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Answer 4

Király

Level 6

10,025 points

May 26, 2009 5:31 PM in response to redxk8

Can you log in to any other user accounts? If so, try accessing System Preferences -> Accounts from there.

Also try rebooting. It also wouldn't hurt to try repairing permissions with Disk Utility.

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Answer 5

redxk8 Author

Level 1

112 points

Jun 2, 2009 8:49 AM in response to Király

Yes, I have already repaired disk permissions. I can log off and log on as my husband. However, his account is not an administrator account so once I am logged in as him, I cannot add another account from there either. I have the only administrator account on the iMac.

I've also tried rebooting from a system disk to try to repair the root administrator account, but it won't read a disc. It will go through all the motions as if it is reading the disk and then will just spit it back out.

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Answer 6

Király

Level 6

10,025 points

Jun 2, 2009 9:49 AM in response to redxk8

Admin tasks, including the adding of other user accounts, can be done from a non-admin account. When unlocking the padlock in the Accounts preference pane, just authenticate with the administrator's username and password when prompted.

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Answer 7

redxk8 Author

Level 1

112 points

Jun 6, 2009 11:09 AM in response to Király

I tried that as well. Everything is still greyed out. Even when I am logged into my own administrator account even the login options are greyed out. Is there some setting somewhere that is engaged that has to be disengaged that has all of these functions locked down? On all of my other Macs all I have to do is go to Accounts in system preferences, double click on the lock at the bottom, put in my password to unlock it and then I have full access to everything. I can add users, delete users, change login options, etc. For some reason the only thing that I can do is log into the accounts and when the actual user name is highlighted just change those limited functions in the password and login items tab.

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Answer 8

redxk8 Author

Level 1

112 points

Jun 12, 2009 9:02 AM in response to V.K.

I enabled the root user. While now I can access the elements that were greyed out before, when I attempt to change something my Mac will freeze and just show the color wheel when I attempt to do something with the mouse. If I go up to the menu and pick Force Quit, the list shows System Preferences (the ap has stopped responding). I've shut system preferences with a force quit, rebooted several times and tried again but the same thing happens every time.

I also can't get it to read a disc so I can't even reboot from my Mac OS system disc to do an archive and reinstall. Does it sound like my system, hardware or both? Is it something that I bundle off my iMac to a Mac Genius to fix?

If this was a PC, I would swear that I had a virus.

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Answer 9

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Jun 12, 2009 9:42 AM in response to redxk8

If this was a PC, I would swear that I had a virus.

Oh, please. as i said you have a corruption of the system of some sort. I don't know what exactly is wrong and I suspect tracking it down would be quite difficult. I would recommend an archive and install.

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Answer 10

Sep 1, 2009 11:42 PM in response to redxk8

Hello. I read the original post with interest, as I had the exact same problem. I am system-level capable on the Mac, and still the solution eluded me. And there is precious little info on the net.

Last night I found the solution. I booted from the latest DiskWarrior DVD (4.2), initiated a repair of my hard disk, and after a reboot, all worked perfectly again. I was able to create, modify and delete new user accounts. FYI, Im running 10.5.8 on a MBP... and I also live in Texas. Hope this works for you.

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