2 users with same User ID, Big Problems

The simple answer…

Back up the Mac, erase the internal disk, reinstall OS X, use Migration Assistant to move the user data back. It will give the users new user ID's & set the correct permissions on their files. You can reinstall apps to put the OS into a 'known good state'. Personally I would avoid migrating apps & 'other files' so that apps can be clean installed.

I do not know how you could have two users with the same UID in open directory. Clearly the Mac has issues & it is unclear to me how you got into this state.

I do not know if the error you list is explicitly related to the users, however it can't be good having the UID the same.

Take several backups if you have the space for it, ideally you want a full bootable clone, do you know how to do that?

You can't delete a user in the Finder. You delete it in the Users & Groups preference pane.

How are you editing the UID in Terminal?

Erase & reinstall sounds ominous, but it will undo the mess.

You can also restore users without Migration Assistant…

Erase, reinstall then create an admin user.

Login as the admin

Now copy the User's home folders from a backup into /Users - ensure the home folders have unique names with no spaces (e.g. suitable 'short names').

A Finder copy is OK since it will allow you to authenticate (no need for Terminal).

Open System Preferences, create two new users supplying the same short name as the home folders. The OS will repair permissions on the folders & set the UID's correctly.

When you supply the correct short name there will be a dialog asking about reusing the existing home folders.

Maybe Linc Davis has a better way to fix the OS as it currently is, so keep us updated on how you want to proceed.

Back up all data. Create a new administrative user C. Log out of all accounts and log in as C. Delete both A and B, keeping the home folder of B. Recreate B. Log out of C and log in as B. Delete C.

agarcia59 wrote:

-Copy my old home folders from my backup into my new /Users folders

--When you say "short names", you mean "Applications", "Desktop", "Documents", etc., right?

- I don't understand the need to create 2 new users. So I will have 1 admin and 2 other users with the same permissions?

No I do not mean Applications or the other items. 'short name' is used for the home folder name, notice how the account has a 'full name' field in System Preferences. The home folder uses a shortened version without spaces.

I was assuming you wanted users A & B, hence the suggestion for 2 accounts in addition to an admin. You wan't to avoid giving them the same ID or permissions, the OS handles that for you when you create accounts correctly in System Preferences.

agarcia59 wrote:

Hi Drew and Linc

Drew, I see what you were going for, but I only wanted 1 user. I tried doing both your methods and am unfortunately still having the same issue.

I found a old working backup on an computer of mine and am comparing the users on that computer and this one. After running dscacheutil -q user | grep -A 3 -B 2 -e uid:\ 5'[0-9][0-9]'

my current computer shows:

… (not relevant info)

I could move the working backup to my current computer, but It's over a year old (lots of new info on my current computer, it would be a huge pain to manually move everything over.

Does the appearance of macports and messagebus users in my current glitchy computer an issue? Why don't these users show up in my old functional computer?

Thanks for your help.

You tried both methods? So when you tried my method of erasing & reinstalling the OS it failed did it? You then restored this old broken OS back to the Mac? Be honest – you didn't erase & reinstall did you?

Stop messing around in Terminal, backup, erase, reinstall, migrate the users you need by hand. It is incredibly simple if you stop getting distracted by Terminal.

I don't see why you have to bring another computer with an old backup that you do not want to use into this issue! Stop 'thinking around' the issue at hand.

Linc's method should have resolved this unless the OS was in a complete mess (which seems likely considering your desire to fool around in Terminal).

The Macports user is from the software you installed, message bus is also likely to be from something else you installed (possibly via macports). Neither should effect the logged in user.

It's looking like you are intent on playing with the OS (or more specifically playing in Terminal until things work), I can't bear to watch.

Backup, erase the internal disk & move the users home folders to /Users in Finder (NO TERMINAL NEEDED) & re-add that user in Users & groups.

If you need help with that I will explain (again), but you can continue messing in Terminal with things you already broke & don't understand in your own time.