Asked for serial number on each start up + can't create client installer

Each time I launch ARD I am asked for my serial number. Once the number is entered ARD launches. Is this normal?

Are you logged into Mac OS X as a user with administrator privileges? If not, this behavior would indeed be normal. You need have admin privileges for your user account, at least for the first launch of the ARD admin app.

I have always logged on as admin.

Not sure if this is the problem, but I migrated my Mac from another laptop. Would that cause a similar problem? If so, how do I get around it?

Thanks, Dave.

I've seen ARD have problems when migrated. I'd suggest uninstalling the ARD admin app using the instructions here and reinstalling.

Hope that helps.

Hi.

I am having the same problems (ARD asking for the serial number on each invocation!). I have removed ARD according to the Apple Support "How to uninstall or disable Apple Remote Desktop 2 or 3" page referred to above and then reinstalled ARD (also did a software update). ARD still asks for the serial number upon invocation.

I rarely log into an admin account.

Given that logging into an admin account was NOT necessary in 10.5, that upon installing ARD it asks for an access password specifically for ARD, and that this seems to be new behavior in 10.6, I suspect it is a bug.

Any other clues or suggestions??

aps.

Logging into a Mac OS X account with administrator privileges has always, in my years of experience with ARD, been necessary to get the serial number to hold. It's not new behavior, and really isn't a bug, per se, since ARD writes that serial number to a preference file in a folder that requires administrator privileges to access.

If you haven't tried launching ARD from a Mac OS X account with administrator privileges and then entering in the serial number, I suggest you give that a try.

Dave, I perhaps can't claim the years of experience with ARD you have; I've only been using it for three years or so. I went back to my wife's 10.5 laptop on which I have an account with ARD. I logged in (after several months of not using it) and launched ARD with no problem whatsoever. I'm not sure how to reconcile my experiences and observations with yours....

Are you suggesting that I *install from an admin account* or that an *admin account is always necessary to run ARD* ? I will try the former but I have made it a practice to rarely log into an Admin account....

aps.

As I said in my post back in November, you need have admin privileges for your user account, at least for the first launch of the ARD admin app, for the serial number to hold. ARD writes the serial number to a preference file in /Library/Preferences/ to which folder only administrator accounts can write. Once the serial number has been written there, you can then run ARD from an account without admin privileges, but you have to launch ARD initially from an account with admin privileges or the serial number won't be kept and you'll have to keep re-adding it.

Why is it insufficient for the installation to run, ask for the privileges it needs for the install and then to do what it needs to do - as do so many other tools/applications needing privileges? This does not make sense....

I shall try this and see how it goes.

aps.

I don't say it makes sense, I just say that's what it does. ARD doesn't write the serial on installation, it writes it on first launch, so there are no elevated privileges from the installer and hence you need admin privileges in the user account.

If you choose not to believe me, that's up to you. I've given my advice, and you can take it or leave it as you choose. I'm done here.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

The trick that worked for me is to go to Macintosh HD-Library-Preferences-and delete com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist.

I'm sorry Dave - where have I heard that before.....

I've been traveling and dealing with other stuff (work!) and had not been able to get back to this thread.

It is not a matter of belief. I tried what you suggested (login into an admin account and install it from there) and it worked just as you said!!! All is fine now. Thank you for your suggestion.

armando

Thanks, Tom. I did not try that but, Dave's suggestion worked once I got it through my thick skull what to try....

My Mac just came back from the genius bar with a new hard disk (Snow Leopard). When I installed ARD, I had the 'always prompting for serial number' problem even though I was installing as an admin.

When I went and checked the Library -> Preferences folder, the Sharing permissions for admins was set to "Read only." I changed the setting to "Read & Write" and everything began to work correctly.

I had this problem --- ARD asked for my serial number each time I started it -- after migrating to Snow Leopard from another machine running Leopard (using migration asst to pull my data from my time machine backup)

Despite the suggestion above that it had something to do with being an administrator, I was logged in as an admin all the time and the problem kept happening.

It was easily fixed actually -- all I had to do was delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist

(the very next time I launched it I had to enter the SN again, of course, but after that it stuck)