unlocking System preferences

My admin account was changed to a standard account after installing upgrade. I tried lots of things: safe mode, recovery mode, reinstallation, none of those worked. what worked was torestart in recovery mode, slecting disk utility, mount the "Macintosh HD" volume using Disk Utility, close disk utility, select "terminal" from Utilities menu.

THen from utilities I had to delete the .AppleSetUpdone file. sorry, I can't find the link that guided me through this. I had to change directories (cd /Volumes/"Macintosh HD"/var/db) but that took a few steps - it didn't like the full phrase I just typed so I did it in steps. then I checked the file was there by using the "ls" command to list files. Then I removed the file by typing rm .AppleSetUpdone. Then I rebooted. This leads to restarting as though you are a new user so foolllow through those commands and eventually you have to set up an account for the Mac. Pick a new account "BackupAdmin" and a new password, and you will at last have an admin account again. when you log on with that account you can change your old (preferred) login from "Standard" back to "admin." do what you want with the backup

I still have two versions of all my standard apps and while I have seen this problem in the support chats with BigSur, it looks like there is no easy fix - just painstakingly delete the old app files. Monterey is a mess so far.

Hi,

I had the exact same issue after upgrading to Monterey. I was no longer able to change System Preferences or install new software because I would be asked for username and password. It SHOULD be the same password as you use to log into the computer, but alas, the computer doesn't accept it. Kept giving me the shaking-because-you-have-the-wrong-password thang.

After a bunch of online research, I figured out that the issue is that my username was switched to be a "Standard" user, not an "Admin" user. So... effectively there was NO admin user on my account, thus no way to enter an admin username and password.

The solution is you need to trick the computer into running Setup Assistant again, so you can create a new user. That new user will automatically have admin rights. And then when you log in with that user, you can turn on admin rights for your original username.

I contacted Apple Support, and did a ton more research, and the steps everybody tells you to do are:

1. Re-start your computer in Recovery Mode, by holding down Command-R during boot-up.
2. Open Terminal
3. Type this command. Exactly, including spaces and quotes: rm "Volumes/Macintosh HD/var/db/.AppleSetupDone"
4. Then re-start your computer, and you'll be taken into the Setup Assistant in which you can create a new user.

BUT: the problem for me was, it kept returning an error message in Terminal: "No such file or directory" And then I'd reboot, and no dice. Issue still there.

So.... more calls to Apple Support... and more research.... and through trial and error, this is what I figured out.

After going into Recovery Mode, I first went into Disk Utility. For some reason the volume listed as Macintosh HD - Data was showing as "unmounted". So I simply hit the "Mount" button. And THEN I did the above steps, and it worked. Finally. Hallelujah.

It's a major bug. If you're having the same problem, and wanting to throw your computer out of the window, I get it. But hopefully this helps!

Apple, please fix in the next update! Thank you. Happy holidays.

Try via Safe Mode and test if the issue remains.

Safe mode may help you resolve or isolate problems that you’re having with your Mac.

When you start up in safe mode, your Mac prevents some software, such as startup items, from loading, and it performs a check of your startup disk. Your Mac may take longer to start up because of the check.

The trouble as far as can see has to do with something that you have installed in Catalina and that does not work correctly in Monterey. It has nothing to do with that password file. It is doing nothing in Monterey (and I think was not doing anything in Catalina either).

Also, I am sure that this file you mentioned is not directly on the desktop, but rather in a folder on the desktop called Relocated Files, or something similar. It is put there because you cannot put files at the top level of the system drive (this would be true of Big Sur as well).

You should make a full backup of your Catalina system, then erase, install Monterey and migrate ONLY the user accounts.

To recovery Admin account see:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250002676

So sorry, I missed a backslash. Here is the correct Terminal command: rm "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/var/db/.AppleSetupDone"

Do this from Recovery mode (Command-R while booting up), and make sure your Macintosh HD - Data drive is showing as 'mounted' in Disk Utility.

Hope this works for you!!

Ouch! Are you sure you're mounting the drive marked "Macintosh HD - Data" ? That did the trick for me.

Here is a more detailed explanation of the steps, with a slightly different set of commands in Terminal. Maybe try this?

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250002676

Very annoying.

I had the same issue with needing to restart during installation. So, I ended up re-installing Monterey while in Recovery mode. Then followed the steps above. Maybe try that?

Which computer do you have? I have the 2018 Macbook Pro with an Intel chip.

You're right, several people have seen somehow their user accounts being demoted, and that is a bug.

All the more reason to always keep an extra admin account on your mac. In case something goes wrong, like this, or if the main account gets corrupted in some other way, it is a life saver.

Agreed! But how would one know that unless they thought there might be an issue down the road? (e.g. me) So when I got locked out, it sure was frustrating to figure out how to get back in.

If anybody is reading this, see above, it works. Save yourself the hassle. And then, keep that extra admin account just in case it happens again.

(BTW, you can't use user-single-mode (Command-S), it doesn't work in Monterey. Use Recovery mode (Command-R on boot-up), and then Disk Utility, and then Terminal.)

Thanks for your post and easy to follow instructions, I've had the same problem with losing administrator status after a very long and protracted upgrade to Monterey.

I've followed your steps but still coming up with blanks. I checked that the volume was mounted and it is. But still getting that error message that there is "No such file or directory" in Terminal.

Lost!!

Yes, definitely the Data drive was already mounted - so I didn't need to do anything. There was only the option to "Unmount".

Yesterday when I made this now fateful! decision to upgrade to Monterey, I turned off and restarted the computer several times during the process - it essentially took all day because it kept on getting stuck. At one point setup assistant started but I aborted that process because I thought I might wipe all my data. Eventually after restarting in safe mode and choosing the option to reinstall Monterey it worked and then went to my usual home screen. Perhaps by aborting that setup process there is no file to say Apple set up is done? But then when I restart my computer it should go into the assistant??

The computer works and very glad I still have all my data but it's going to be a hassle not having an administrator. I can't back up with Time Machine for a start.