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Q: Guest account requires password - Disabling/reenabling doesn't work

There are many threads here and elsewhere describing an issue where the Guest account suddenly starts prompting for a password, however in my case disabling and reenabling the Guest account (the solution suggested in all of those threads) does not work.

 

When attempting to log into my guest user account via fast app switching the Guest User panel appears as shown below and a loading spinner displays and conintues spinning indefinitely. Also note that an authentication window pops up behind the Guest User panel.

 

Screen Shot 2013-11-29 at 3.34.29 pm.png

 

In order to remove the Guest User panel I have to press the power button once to turn off my screen, wake my computer and then press Cancel (I'm not able to log in to the Guest account with any - or no - password). The screenshot below shows what I see after waking my computer.

 

Screen Shot 2013-11-29 at 3.38.02 pm.png

 

Attepting to log in to the Guest account from the login screen causes the same authentication window as mentioned above to appear, and although this time I am able to enter my password the computer rejects anything I type in. After cancelling the authentication window I am again able to attempt to log into the Guest account, and again no passwords are accepted.

 

I have tried various combinations of restarting my computer and enabling and disabling the Guest account but have had no success. I also tried right clicking the Guest User in System Preferences>Users & Groups, clicking Advanced Options and deleting the entry for the Guest account's home directory. That wasn't my smartest move, as it turns out, as now clicking Advanced Options on the Guest User does nothing. Below is the output from a relevant Terminal command:

 

dscacheutil -q user -a name guest

name: Guest

password: ********

uid: 201

gid: 201

dir: /var/empty

shell: /bin/bash

gecos: Guest User

 

I'd like to try and resolve this without doing a clean install, but obviously that's my last resort. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 28, 2013 6:49 PM

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Q: Guest account requires password - Disabling/reenabling doesn't work

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  • by viellencerts,

    viellencerts viellencerts Sep 15, 2016 5:50 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 5:50 AM in response to Linc Davis

    When you say test that folder, what do you mean? I am having this exact same problem in a school setting. Disabling an re-enabling Guest works temporarily but the issue crops up again within a day or so.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 15, 2016 7:54 AM in response to viellencerts
    Level 9 (71,438 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 15, 2016 7:54 AM in response to viellencerts

    You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is a couple of years old and marked solved, less people are likely to look at it. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.

     

    I think he meant remove the folder and see if the account works properly. Test the account, not the folder.

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