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How can I recover (or change) my root password on a MacBook

I bought a MacBook for the combination of the underlying unix and the Mac Aps.

I have managed to install xcode, but that did not come with fortran or mpi, so I need to install gcc 4.1 directly (to get fortran).

I have not been able to install gcc 4.1 without a root password. I have no idea what the root pasword is (I was never asked to choose one) and no idea how to reset it.

Please help!

Thanks,
Ken

SOLUTION

Eoin OSullivan

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heteronymous

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benhanson

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dalesit

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manicsquirrel

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klopter

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Wow, this is amzing. All five of these answers are relevant to me and provide me with a different piece of the puzzle. I will stick to sudo for now (using my regular account password), but it is nice to know that I can enable root and set the password if that becomes truly neessary.

Thanks all!
Ken