What does "Keychain Not Found" message mean?

Today when I restarted my MacBook Pro (El Capitan 10.11.6), I got this "Keychain Not Found" message right after login:

Keychain "login" cannot be found to store "com.apple.scopedbookmarksagent.xpc."

with buttons giving the option to cancel or "reset to defaults".


I can't recall ever getting a message like this, have no idea why I'm getting it, nor what it means/does or which option to pick. Does anyone know why I'm getting this? Am I getting hacked or virused? Thx!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Jul 25, 2017 7:06 PM

Reply
16 replies

Jul 26, 2017 1:34 PM in response to sarine-ImissLEOPARD_STEVE__

Hi,


Whilst other posters might restate the debate about what is malware and what is a virus the facts are anyone can get Malware and virus are a specific type of malware in the way they work.


The OS X has yet to have a Virus in the wild (where anyone can get it).

There have been proof on concept stuff in labs.


What is more likely is that for some reason you cannot Read and Write to the Keychain in /Library/Keychains

Open A Finder Window.

Use the Go Menu whilst also holding down the ALT key.

This will show the Library you need in the Menu.

Select this and then navigate to the Keychains folder.


In here one is the Login keychain

Highlight this then do a Get Info (CMD + i key together)

In the info Panel scroll to the bottom.

Here should be your shortname (the Name the computer uses for you in Users/Little House icon

You should have Read and Write Permission.

Highlight this line then Unlock the Padlock and then use the cogwheel type icon under the list.

This should say Make yourShortName (me) the Owner.

If it is greyed out then you already Own it.

If it is dark text then select it to make it yours.

User uploaded file


Restart the computer and see if you get the error alert again



User uploaded file

9:34 pm Wednesday; July 26, 2017


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 10.x and an iPad (2)

Jul 27, 2017 1:44 AM in response to sarine-ImissLEOPARD_STEVE__

As per this article : If your Mac keeps asking for the login keychain password - Apple Support

If your Mac keeps asking for the login keychain password

The password of your macOS user account might not match the password of your login keychain. Either create a new login keychain or update it with your new password.


After you or your Mac administrator resets the password of your macOS user account, your Mac might ask you to update your keychain password or enter the password of your login keychain. It might also tell you that the system was unable to unlock your login keychain. That's because your login keychain is still using your old password.

If you don't know your old password

If you don't know your old password, the solution is to create a new login keychain.

Try to follow the steps in the article or create a new login keychain.

Jul 26, 2017 5:34 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

okay, i just (once again) did a restart and lo-and-behold for some reason i can now get online, firefox opens without a hitch, and i'm now able to both "save" and "delete" things again... BUT i'm getting weird keychain messages, here's a grab of a couple:

User uploaded file


THANK YOU AGAIN, Ralph, for offering up a try for a solution and THANK YOU in advance to anyone who's got a clue as to what's up... (I've currently lost access to my own memory file as to why macs cost like $2,000 more than PCs and are so reputedly "user-friendly"...)

Jul 27, 2017 11:59 AM in response to sarine-ImissLEOPARD_STEVE__

hi,


An Error -50 is a Read/Write error.

The logic says the Keychains in the item but in fact it could be any of the containing folders.


Open a Finder window.

Go to the View Menu.

Choose Show Path Bar

Navigate again to the Keychains folder.

Right click the icon for the folder and select Get Info.

Repeat checking Ownership and Read and Write Permissions


Repeat for the Library icon

Again for the Little House icon folder (your ShortName / Account) folder.

It is unlikely you need to th check the Users folder or higher but Error -50 could be as high as the Hard Drive level.


Trying First Aid recreating the Keychain as suggested may also work.


Also try Safe Boot as lots of items seem affected.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support




User uploaded file

7:59 pm Thursday; July 27, 2017


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 10.x and an iPad (2)

Jul 27, 2017 12:13 PM in response to tygb

Hi,


Realistically they will be coming.


There was this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_(computer_worm)

Whilst it is "Spread" on a Bonjour network without further user involvement the initial delivery is usually by some like an email where an icon looking like pictures and then if attempting to open install the hidden code.


There is further info on this here First ever virus for Mac OS X discovered along with further debate about which category of overall Malware it should fall into.

The second link is to a Anti Virus provider so effectively it is a long advert (bring your own salt).


Neither link explains how to get rid of it though. (I am sure the Wiki one did at one stage)



User uploaded file

8:13 pm Thursday; July 27, 2017


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 10.x and an iPad (2)

Dec 13, 2017 12:39 PM in response to Andrew.j.lintz

HI,


I ask the poster to explain what he/she did as they did not actually say.


As that action solved the issues for them AND they were the Original Poster they can mark their OWN post as the Solved item in the thread if they feel nobody provided to Answer they were looking for.


I was NOT asking for them to mark my Reply.


As the original Issue was about the Ownership and Permission of the Keychain (And possibly other files in the Home Folder) this might be of some help.

Resolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder - Apple Support



User uploaded file

8:39 pm Wednesday; December 13, 2017


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 11.x and an iPad (2)

Dec 13, 2017 12:46 PM in response to Andrew.j.lintz

Hi,


From Jul 28th


... if you read my reply to ralph, you'll see i did a bunch of health-oriented things for my mac and the issue i was having appears to have somehow resolved itself...



User uploaded file

8:46 pm Wednesday; December 13, 2017


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 11.x and an iPad (2)

Jul 26, 2017 4:55 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

The for responding, Ralph, but that didn't help (i was the owner already,fyi)... now on top of that, almost none of my apps will even open and I can't get online becuz it says Firefox is already open (it isn't) and I get the f-ing keychain message when I try to open safari!?! oh almost forgot to mention, I can't delete or save anything either (I get an error -50 message)... AAARrrGGHHGhhhh! help?

Jul 27, 2017 3:56 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

?!? earth to ralph, come in ralph...

whew! i'm not sure where that came from, but (1) i don't do bonjour (never have), (2) don't do ichat (never have), (3) i've never even signed in to/used mail or icloud, (4) i would never open a g-zip or tar file as described in the link you provided, (5) i don't employ any antivirus providers (i'm told they're the ones who create the viruses in the first place so i've steered clear), (6) as i said in my last response up above, i was able to open, save, and delete files and get online (after re-starting) so the only thing was that **** keychain thing... since my last post, i did all of the nourishment-inducing things i could think of to make my mac happy again (running disk utility's first aid a few times, uninstalling flash player, re-starting quite a few times, etc., etc.) and now at this point, i'm happy to say, all the weirdness appears to have resolved itself somehow (or one or a combination of my fix-it get-back-to-healthy attempts did the trick) and i haven't seen any keychain nasty message all day! so yay! ...and (hopefully) it's been dealt with for good.


so thx for the info and response, i very much appreciate it! have a fun day ~ sarine


p.s. realistically, if "they" be coming with any intent of doing any harm,

they will be karmically compromised

by the power of 3 x 3 x 3...

Jul 27, 2017 4:08 PM in response to tygb

hey, tygb, thx for responding, i really appreciate it... if you read my reply to ralph, you'll see i did a bunch of health-oriented things for my mac and the issue i was having appears to have somehow resolved itself... i'm not very forum-savvy and i don't know how to show this as "closed". i can't really boink on any "This solved my question" buttons because I don't really know what solved it and don't want to mislead anyone else having the problem... hopefully people will either read this or someone will let me know what to do in a case like this... anyways, thx again, and have a fun day ~ sarine

Jul 28, 2017 11:02 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

hey there, ralph (i approach with humbleness and hanging head)...


turns out i'm a dork and spoke too soon (at least yesterday/today i am) and there's still something very weird (and i think really bad) happening with my MBP, so i'm going to slowly and methodically go thru each step of troubleshooting again (your suggestions + apple posts that apply to this issue)... i'm not exactly sure what safe mode does or is supposed to show--i've booted in safe mode a few times in the past when i had other kinks but i guess i didn't/don't really know what i'm doing there because i didn't see anything that would've shown me a fix for the problem or point me to the cause... i'll try it again now though and maybe something will "pop" because not only are the dreaded keychain messages appearing again, but i couldn't login (it kept shaking when i entered my password) and so i just hard-powered-off and when it came back on, weird messages happened, but i finally am in again though i don't know for how long so i've gotta troubleshoot now


the false sense of well-being i had was due to getting a clean bill of health over and over after running disk utility's first aid... the details show no problem at all(?!?) and i'm wondering now if disk utility even does anything these days (or is it yet another apple app/programming tragedy where it seems like it's taken a big step DOWN instead of being improved at all), but ANYways i don't know what's up with that, shouldn't something be showing up there? i'm thinking of running the disk utility in recovery mode to see if that shows anything... course there's always the fsck -fy (smiling wryly) so now it's back to the drawing board for me, i'll keep this thread updated with any new developments... thx again

Jul 28, 2017 11:14 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

hey there, ralph, a p.s. here about the keychain file (navigated to thru "GO" and then the "library" files)--i tried to "grab" the info so you could see it but evidently i'm unable to save documents again (argh!), so i'm just going to list the files because they just look wrong:

Keychains (Folder)

(Big long #s & letters here) (Folder)

keychain-2.db

keychain-2.db-shm

keychain-2.db-wal

stash.kb

user.kb

login.keychain

Microsoft_Intermediate_Certificates


???!?

Dec 13, 2017 12:19 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Hey Ralph,


I'm a bit disappointed that your response to sarine's reply with "i spoke too soon, i'm having the error -50 / keychain problems again" was to mark as solved; when it's clearly not.



I'm having the exact same problem and was hoping for a solution.


error code -50

keychain Not Found


I've First Aid the Disk, reformatted the harddrive, reinstalled OSX 10.11.6, reset the keychain, moved A76EALKDFJAS0982034ASDJ folder to trash, created a new keychain, reset the permission & made owner of each of the keychain-2.db keychain-2.db-shm keychain-2.db-wal, reset the permissions made owner of User folder (home icon).


Any further suggestions?

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What does "Keychain Not Found" message mean?

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