What is the system keychain password?

Question

Level 2

334 points

What is the system keychain password?

Every single time I logon to my PB12, an alert pops up asking me for the system keychain password. I have tried the only password on this system but it tells me that is invalid.

I click cancel and everything works fine. It is 'Airport' that is causing it to ask, becuase until I click cancel airport remains inactive.

Why is it asking for the password?
Why won't it accept the only password I have on this system?
Why does it ask, when clicking cancel makes it work fine anyway?

What a pain in the (bottom) this is.

Power Mac, Mac Mini, Power Book G4, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Jan 3, 2006 3:38 AM

Reply

Answer 1

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Jan 3, 2006 3:10 PM in response to Kenny Millar

Don't know, but it indicates that something's amiss with your keychain. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156 for steps on resetting it. Once that's done, launch /Library/Utilities/Keychain Access/ and look at the settings under the Preferences/First Aid tab. Also, take a look at Keychain Access's Help.

Reply

Answer 2

Kenny Millar Author

Level 2

334 points

Jan 4, 2006 1:23 AM in response to baltwo

That article is all about resetting users passwords, including admin users passwords, not the 'system keychain password'. So not very helpful in my case.

On my machine there is only 1 user, 'kenny' and it is the administrator, and I know the password (how else would I get logged in 😉 ). So no point in resetting that password.

But thanks for the tip on resetting keychain. I'll have a look at that.

However I think the first thing I'll do is remove all my Airport connections and re-create them, and see if that cures it. I think it is definately Airport at the root of the trouble.

Reply

Answer 3

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Jan 4, 2006 11:35 AM in response to Kenny Millar

Well, then use Keychain Access to open the system keychain and see what password it's using. Mine is empty, since I've never set one up. See the various documents shown at http://developer.apple.com/cgi-bin/search.pl?q=system+keychain&site=default_coll ection to get a handle on your problem. The problem could be airport related; I don't have one, so I can't provide any guidance.

Reply

Answer 4

tinton

Level 1

8 points

Feb 6, 2006 9:16 AM in response to baltwo

I have a similar problem myself. I can unlock the "System.keychain" keychain, but if I want to move items around, it asks me for the password again.

When I press the unlock button, it asks for the password for my full user name. And that one works, the keychain unlocks. But an unlocked keychain doesn't really let you do much administration on it. You must enter its password for any administration tasks. And that's when I get stuck: the system doesn't accept any password I know of, not even the empty password.

But I can delete items. So I can delete the item, then recreate it in the other keychain.

It seems like the system keychain is like a group, that can contain references to keys so that the whole system can use that key. But is it really like this, or is a copy of the key created, when a key automatically gets into the sytem keychain (like the airport keys)?

PowerBook 12" Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Reply

Answer 5

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Feb 6, 2006 12:21 PM in response to tinton

Not much more to offer, except that in http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302810 it states:

Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.4.3 in which you cannot unlock the System Keychain, or the System Keychain does not accept your authentication when authenticating for a wireless network.[/B/
You might try reinstalling the 10.4.4 combo updater.
Also, check out: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106521

Reply