no system administrator listed

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Level 1

8 points

no system administrator listed

i am unable to make any changes to my mac as no admin is listed. i have tried going thur Terminal from restore mode and the only account listed was my log in which is not set to admin. I typed in whoami from the command S option and it did not recognize anything

i am at a loss...is there any way to access my system admin information as nothing is listed in the user/account section besides the way i have tried?

i am hoping to avoid a complete restore if at all possible. would appreciate any and all advice. ty.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Oct 18, 2018 4:10 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

240,749 points

Oct 18, 2018 6:05 PM in response to c.d.g.

Hello,

Not sure if this still works, haven't tested in the last few OS versions, but I suspect it still works...

This was Posted by: JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM

"OK, restart your computer, hold down Command-s and type in the following:

/sbin/fsck -fy

press Enter

/sbin/mount -uaw

press Enter

rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

press Enter

# The rm command is the remove command which deletes the file.

# Robert: I'd rename the file via: mv /var/db/.applesetupdone /var/db/.applesetupdone.old

reboot

press Enter

Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

end of posted by: JoseAranda"

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Answer 2

c.d.g. Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2018 8:02 AM in response to BDAqua

Ty. I tried something very similar but it didn’t do anything. Will try this and HOPEFULLY it will. Makes no sense that the admin is no longer

Active or available. I am completely locked out from my own pc and can’t be more frustrated. Lol

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

240,749 points

Oct 19, 2018 8:19 AM in response to c.d.g.

Yes, I know the frustration... I believe the cause of the problem is some corruption on your Hard Drive.

I almost gave up here, the last 24 people posting for help that I replied to haven't been back at all... good luck.

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Answer 4

c.d.g. Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 23, 2018 2:20 PM in response to BDAqua

Ty so much. Finally been able to find the time to do this and so far so good!! I’m sure I probably would have tried sooner had I not been so frustrated but also life got crazy. Appreciate all your help!!!

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

240,749 points

Oct 19, 2018 7:57 AM in response to c.d.g.

no system administrator listed

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