Freshly created Account is Admin-Account by Default.

A freshly created account under 10.7.4. is a Admin account by default. The checkbox "Allow user to administer this computer" is grayed out. I end up with an Admin account and there is no way to convert this account into a Standard account.


Facts: 10.7.4 - clean install on a current iMac i5


Freshly created account uses name of a deleted older account (my name)

Repaired permissions several times (disk utility and "resetpassword utility" via terminal and safe boot)

The older account had been relocated to a external disc for security reasons. There the access rights got corrupted so that I wanted to freshly create a new account and copy all files from a backup.


Any suggestions how to create a new account for me?


Thanks and best,


Steve

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on May 27, 2012 2:31 AM

Reply
38 replies

May 29, 2012 4:34 AM in response to BeHappy08

I am running into more issues with the new account:


it seems that I do not have full permissions on my home folder. Every file copy requires an admin password and every file copy duplicates the file at the new folder.


I checked permissions: to my big surprise my account is listed twice in the get info window: steve (me) - read and write. They are completely identical entries and I am unable to delete one of those entries.


Is it possible that permissions management is corrupted?

May 29, 2012 5:47 AM in response to BeHappy08

You have somehow corrupted your user database. Make notes of all the users you want to have, including their name, password, admin status, numerical user ID (not the UUID), and home folder location. One of those users should have numerical ID 501, and should be an admin.


Back up all data. I'll assume you know how to do that and that you also know how to restore under any circumstances. If that assumption is wrong, STOP and get help from someone qualified.


Log in as an administrator and launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.


Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:


ls /var/db/.AppleSetupDone


You should get the following line of output below what you entered:


/var/db/.AppleSetupDone


If you do, then enter the following command in the same way as before:


sudo rm !$


You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. Now you should get the following output:


sudo rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone


Reboot. The system will boot into the Setup Assistant, as if you were setting it up for the first time. Skip the prompt to transfer information. Create a user with the same name and password as the old admin user with numerical ID 501. Log in and recreate the other user accounts.

May 29, 2012 12:02 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks, three questions to this:


Does the new Admin have ID 501 by default? If not, what to do?


What is the exact process for recreating the other accounts?

This creates normally empty folders. Should I than reconnect the new accounts to the old folders of the respective users?


And if so - Can I be sure that the permissions for my account on the external disk are so that I can access my files?

May 29, 2012 12:10 PM in response to BeHappy08

The first user created by Setup Assistant has ID 501.


The process for creating other users is described in the built-in help for System Preferences. To see, and edit, the numerical ID and the location of the home folder, unlock the Users & Groups preference pane, then right-click the user name in the list and select Advanced Options from the popup menu.


The home folders will be the same as they are now. You're not deleting them.


If the new user ID's don't match the old ones, you'll have to correct the ownership of the home folders. That can be done from the Info window.

Jun 1, 2012 1:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

I am afraid, the problem is persisting.


I am getting corrupted permission settings (in many cases multiple user entries "everyone") with differing permissions. Applications seem to fail to access the user library, most notably my scansnap scanner which tells me "initialization failed" on launch or Wacom tablet driver issues (which has user specific entries in the user library).


I get an message that my infos on MobileMe are corrupted. I fail to reset those. My other computers commuicate with MobileMe as always with the same account.


In many cases user permissions are hooked to a user "Loading". However its never loaded.


After repeating the process of deleting the user data base several times I get the following situation:


1 - After entering the Admin password I do not get

"sudo rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone".

2 - When I repeat the "ls..." command no Admin password is required - but the system replies with "sudo rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone".

3 - After reboot the Admin account cannot be created with previous settings. System tells me "this name is not available".

4 - So I have to choose another name and that creates another Admin account.

5 - After reboot all accounts appear as before - and show the same issues as before.

6 - Sometimes ⚠ user permissions can just not be edited - nothing happens


Either we have not found the reason that leads to repeated corruption of the user database or the reset process does not remove this database completely.


I guess that I am not resetting the user database completely.


Any suggestions?

Jun 1, 2012 1:47 PM in response to BeHappy08

As I wrote earlier, you were going to have permission problems if the user ID's didn't match.


Repairing the permissions of a home folder in Lion is a complicated procedure. I don’t know of a simpler one that always works.


Back up all data now. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to its present state


Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.


Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:


chmod -R -N ~


The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. When a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) appears below what you entered, it’s done. You may see a few error messages about an “invalid argument” while the command is running. You can ignore those. If you get an error message with the words “Permission denied,” enter this:


sudo !!


You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.


Next, boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.


When the Recovery screen appears, select Utilities ▹ Terminal from the menu bar.


In the Terminal window, enter “resetpassword” (without the quotes) and press return. A Reset Password window opens. You’re not going to reset the password.


Select your boot volume if not already selected.


Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.


Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.


Select ▹ Restart from the menu bar.

Jun 1, 2012 1:58 PM in response to Linc Davis

I am confused in one point. Since no new accounts had to be created, how can the User IDs mismatch? Basically I never touched those because after reboot they were all there.


Can it be, that the user database has not been removed?


3 - My user account is on an external (FireWire 800) disc for security reasons. I linked this folder with Users&Groups/Advanced Options to this location. This setup worked for at least 7 years now with varying macs, systems and discs without any hickups.


How can permissions be repaired there?


During the first reset I copied my entire home folder (400 GB) to the internal disc, edited my user account, repaired permissions as described above, copied it back to its disc and edited my user account again. Not elegant, no?

Jun 1, 2012 2:04 PM in response to BeHappy08

First, you said that your admin account formerly had UID 503. Now it has UID 501. The UID's don't match.


Resetting home folder permissions doesn't depend on where the home folder is. As long as you properly updated the user database to point to it, there should be no problem. Of course, ownership has to be enabled on the external drive. I assume you've done that.

Jun 1, 2012 2:15 PM in response to Linc Davis

Yes correct. I did what I could to follow your directions and deleted this old user account (503) and created a new (501). By the way it has the grayed out checkbox again (although it should not - other Admins, etc. etc.).


I spent much time to correct things and I am really thankful for your help.


Are you sure, that the user database had been removed, although all accounts are there etc.?

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Freshly created Account is Admin-Account by Default.

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