Apostolos S. Makedon

Q: Admin Password Issue

I wanna change my admin password but I can't because I don't know what it is.. I have never encountered any problems in terms of downloading/installing/updating/moving/ etc.. When prompted, I just type in my users account password.

 

It's not the same as the User account passwd and not the same as the Filevault passwd.

 

Is there a way to reset it without losing my data?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on May 10, 2014 1:01 AM

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Q: Admin Password Issue

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  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:07 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:07 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert

    Thank you for those steps but after following every single one of them, I still can't reset the password here.

     

    Skjermbilde 2014-05-13 kl. 13.01.10.png

     

     

     

    It says " Wrong password ".

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:12 AM in response to andyBall_uk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:12 AM in response to andyBall_uk

    Nothing on the mac is encrypted, and FileVault is off.

     

    How do I know if I have a legacy FileVault encrypted home folder?

     

    And how do I know if I have FileVault 2?

  • by andyBall_uk,

    andyBall_uk andyBall_uk May 13, 2014 4:14 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon
    Level 7 (20,495 points)
    May 13, 2014 4:14 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon

    >>How do I know if I have a legacy FileVault encrypted home folder?

     

    From the other admin account, look at Macintosh HD/Users

     

    Is the original admin shown as a folder with a red 'no entry' sign ?.

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:16 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:16 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert

    I encrypted my mac once, just a week ago ( no longer encrypted ), and then I typed in my regular password.

    ( Users account password )

     

    In a strange way that make it seem as if I already have an administrator password, and the box in the pic below which states "Wrong password" in red, simply isn't functioning properly....

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:19 AM in response to andyBall_uk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:19 AM in response to andyBall_uk

    The other admin account? I only have one account and I'm on it as we "speak".

  • by Christian A. Burkert,

    Christian A. Burkert Christian A. Burkert May 13, 2014 4:28 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon
    Level 2 (305 points)
    May 13, 2014 4:28 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon

    If I understand this correctly:

     

    The main or master password is needed as a safety net for legacy FileVault home directory encryption only. Before OSX 10.7 Lion only the home directories were encrypted while the rest of the system was not. Starting with Lion a new version of FileVault (FileVault 2) was released which now encrypts the entire volume and uses different retrieval methods.

     

    With legacy FileVault an admin user can use the master password to reset the forgotten user password without losing access to the encrypted data, if the user, whose home directory is encrypted, has forgotten his/her login password.

     

    For security reasons the master password itself cannot be reset and thus - if forgotten - OSX needs to be reinstalled from scratch and access to the encrypted data is no longer possible.

     

    However if you only have set the master password without using FileVault, the following might work:

     

    log into root account

    open Terminal

    enter the following two commands

    cd /Users

    find . -name "FileVaultMaster.keychain

     

    If such a file is found, the home directory of the user where the file is located uses or has used legacy FileVault.

  • by andyBall_uk,Solvedanswer

    andyBall_uk andyBall_uk May 13, 2014 4:29 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon
    Level 7 (20,495 points)
    May 13, 2014 4:29 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon

    OK, but earlier, after I suggested

    ----

    Try to create a new user account by clicking the + button

     

    OS X Mavericks: Konfigurer brukere på Mac-maskinen

     

    Give it administrator privileges.

    Log out of your usual account, into the new one, then try to change your normal account's password.

    ----

     

    you said 'didn't work' : so I thought you tried it.

     

    No matter. Look in your Home folder, as well as Desktop, Documents etc, is there a file named 'yourname'.sparsebundle ?

     

     

    If not, or anyway, since you no longer know the master password

     

    go to the main

    HD/Library/Keychains

     

    & delete these two files. It won't let you change the 'Master Password'; but you will be able to set a new one.

     

    FileVaultMaster.cer

    FileVaultMaster.keychain

  • by Christian A. Burkert,

    Christian A. Burkert Christian A. Burkert May 13, 2014 4:42 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon
    Level 2 (305 points)
    May 13, 2014 4:42 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon

    Is there a FileVaultMaster.keychain in your home directory

     

    (/Users/<name-of-user>/Library/Keychains) ?

     

    I stand corrected, see andyBall_uk  last posting

     

    just curiousity on my behalf, how do master password and root account correlate to each other?

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:44 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:44 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert

    No such file in the root acount->terminal.

     

    I got a single sign: >

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:44 AM in response to andyBall_uk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:44 AM in response to andyBall_uk

    I deleted those two now.

  • by Apostolos S. Makedon,

    Apostolos S. Makedon Apostolos S. Makedon May 13, 2014 4:46 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 13, 2014 4:46 AM in response to Apostolos S. Makedon

    YES!!!!!!!


    Thank you guys so much for taking the time! I really appreciate it! Those two f***ng files!

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