Level 1

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Keychain Unlock - Menubar Access

A few days ago I upgraded from Lion v. 10.7.5 to Mountain Lion v. 10.8.2.

After that upgrade a curious behavior began.

The "unlock" command on the menubar Keychain Access menu no longer generates the prompt to enter my "login" password to unlock that keychain. The same is true for the two other keychains listed in the menu.

The menu does function for locking the keychains and opening the security preferences and keychain access.

If I launch an app that requires keychain access (Safari, Mail) the prompt to enter the login keychain password appears. I've tried removing and regenerating the Keychain plist to no avail.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior?

Any suggestions on how to return to normal behavior?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2008), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Recent OS upgrade from Lion, 10.7.5

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 3:06 PM

24 replies

Tuzarupa Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 19, 2013 5:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

Yes, early on, no problems reported

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jan 19, 2013 6:13 PM in response to Tuzarupa

Back up all data.

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

Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.

When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the OS. You don't need to erase the boot volume, and you won't need your backup unless something goes wrong. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade, so make a note of those before you begin.

Tuzarupa Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2013 9:19 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc - I was fortunate enough to have made a boot drive of ML so was able to get into Recovery and reinstall ML from that. All went well but the reinstall did not fully resolve the Keychain functionality.

While the "lock icon" status for the Keychain Access app and menubar icon are again in synch (show correct state when open or locked) I remain unable to select the "Unlock" feature from the menubar drop-down. The feature appears to be avialable (is not grayed out) but when "unlock keychain "NNN" is selected, nothing happens. All other menu features are finctional.

I'm thinking that my choices now are ignore or clean install.

Thoughts?

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jan 22, 2013 10:11 AM in response to Tuzarupa

I remain unable to select the "Unlock" feature from the menubar drop-down. The feature appears to be avialable (is not grayed out) but when "unlock keychain "NNN" is selected, nothing happens.

I've never used that feature before, but I just tested it and got the same result. So it's a bug. If you're having to lock and unlock keychains frequently, something is probably wrong with your security procedures. You should be locking the screen -- not the keychain -- whenever you're away from the computer while logged in. I can't think of any good reason not to leave the keychains unlocked all the time.

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Jan 22, 2013 10:54 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

I remain unable to select the "Unlock" feature from the menubar drop-down. The feature appears to be avialable (is not grayed out) but when "unlock keychain "NNN" is selected, nothing happens.

I've never used that feature before, but I just tested it and got the same result. So it's a bug.

I just checked in Snow Leopard and it works as advertised. I'll check later in Lion & Mtn Lion and file appropriate bug reports.

Tuzarupa Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2013 11:52 AM in response to Linc Davis

I think the choice for Security depends on the working environment and personal preference. I do not lock my keychain manually. I do prefer to automate security by having the system lock the login keychain via the Security preference. I can easially change the timing based on my environment. Better than manually selecting "lock screen" in my mind (I have been known to forget).

Apple makes automation simple: Security & Privacy Prefs > General > Require Password after "N" amount of time after screen saver or sleep begins. The Preference doesn't lock the screen but locks the keychain so that's what I use.

I suspect it is a "bug" as you mention but one that is associated to systems that were either upgraded to 10.8.2 or had users being migrated from systems with older OS's as opposed to systems where 10.8.2 was installed as native and where only simple data migration took place (no settings, preferences, etc).

To support this theory:

I have (work issued) a MacBook Air on 10.8.2 where Mountian Lion was installed as native. Since my previous laptop was a PC the only informaiton that migrated to the new sytem were documents, archived e-mail, and bookmarks. The "unlock" feature from the Keychain menubar icon works here for all keychains.

I also recently migrated a member of my family to a new MBP with 10.8.2 installed when delivered.

Their previous laptop was a MBP running Snow Leopard. The migration was done using "T" mode and included all user settings, applicatons, etc. The "unlock" feature from the Keychain menubar icon does not work on this new MBP either. Same behavior as I am experiencing.

Therefore, I conclude that something in both the upgrade and migratrion processes is causing an element of the Keychain Access menubar to behave abnormally. Not as desiged or intended.

I wonder if anyone else has had the same experience and if Apple may fix in the next release. Sure would be easier that a clean install with no guarantee of success.

Did you upgrade from a prior OS?

Tuzarupa Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2013 11:56 AM in response to baltwo

Yes - it has worked form day one in all other OS's prior to ML - I've used tge feature for years.

See my latest reply to Linc - I believe something is amiss in the upgrade and migration process causing the defect. My "native" MB Air where no settings were migrated works as intended.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jan 22, 2013 12:53 PM in response to Tuzarupa

Did you upgrade from a prior OS?

Yes.

viru9099

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 3:42 AM in response to Tuzarupa

Hi Sir,

Please follow the below steps to clear the Temporary Files.

1. Open Finder

2. Hold down Option / Alt key on the keyboard and click on Go in the menu bar and select Library ( User / Home Library )

3. inside Library, there wouldl be two folders, Caches, Cookies, right click on them and select Move to Trash.

4. Click on Go once again in the menu bar, select Computer

5. Select Macintosh HD and then open Library.

6. Inside Library, open the folder named Caches, select all the contents inside the Caches folder and move it to trash ( Macintosh HD / Hard Drive Library )

7. Restart the system and then Empty Trash.

** Note ** Always remember your Mac OSX has 2 Libraries, one is the User Library which is kept hidden by default (follow Step 2 above to unhide it ) and the other one is the Hard Drive Library ( Step 4 and 5 ). Please note that these Libraries contains critical Operating System files and application files. Please do not delete or remove any other folders / files apart from the ones mentioned above to avoid data loss and OSX corruption.

If you want any further assistance or even after these steps your system is still running slow, please feel free to contact us any point of time.

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Keychain Unlock - Menubar Access