root access in terminal on Mac OS X 10.8.2

Use sudo instead; unless you're using Mac OS X Server, the default root password is an illegal value which is impossible to enter. If you are using Mac OS X Server, it's the same as the password of the first account created on the computer.

(71369)

You don't want to enable root, that's not a good idea unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing. Even then, it's almost never a good idea. What you want is to use su or sudo. When you use those from an admin account, the password you need to enter is the password for that admin account, not the password for the root user. But I warn you: don't use su or sudo, either, unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing.

You can't su to root without enabling root or using sudo su; unless otherwise noted, su calls for the root password, not the normal administrator one, and that is impossible to enter by default on the client version of Mac OS X.

(71370)

Good to know. I haven't ever used su, I assumed that it worked similarly to sudo.