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User profile for user: th3b4dluca
th3b4dluca Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

no admin on mac os high sierra, and no recovery partition

hi everyone, yesterday i received my first macbook in my life, it is the macbook polycarbonate white 2009. I bought it used and it came with mac os high sierra installed. I wanted to change the name of the mac account but it happened that when I saved the whole admin role I didn't have it anymore, so i tried to reboot but nothing, i tried to format it but it doesn't have a recovery partition, and i can't even get into the boot menu. Is there a way to solve this problem?? i can't install apps or update mac os. please help

MacBook

Posted on Oct 6, 2021 2:51 PM

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,657 points

Posted on Oct 6, 2021 3:02 PM

See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,657 points

Oct 6, 2021 3:02 PM in response to th3b4dluca

See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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no admin on mac os high sierra, and no recovery partition

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