Resetting password on a Macbook Pro 10.6 Snow Leapard
I've tried this with no luck:
1.Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
2.Type fsck -fy
3.Type mount -uw /
4.Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaem
5.Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, replacing username with the targeted user and password with the desired password.
6.Reboot
After running step 5 I get this error:
<dscl_cmd> DS Error: -14009 (eDSUnknownNodeName)
I have a user account that doesn't show when using the password reset tool. I tried this method and it doesn't work either. I can see the users folder under /Users but can't seem to reset the password.
Any suggestions?
1.Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
2.Type fsck -fy
3.Type mount -uw /
4.Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaem
5.Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, replacing username with the targeted user and password with the desired password.
6.Reboot
After running step 5 I get this error:
<dscl_cmd> DS Error: -14009 (eDSUnknownNodeName)
I have a user account that doesn't show when using the password reset tool. I tried this method and it doesn't work either. I can see the users folder under /Users but can't seem to reset the password.
Any suggestions?
strung
Does this help: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1448801
If it's the admin/root password, then boot from the installation DVD and there is an option from the menus once booted to the installer which lets you do this.
If it's a user password, log in as root and open a terminal window and type:
passwd [username]
If it's a user password, log in as root and open a terminal window and type:
passwd [username]
ASKER
ok so I tried that but it shows Unknown user name /Users/<username>
If I ls -l in the Users folder I see the folder but it looks a little different than the other folders.. ie:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Jun 30 2009 .localized
drwxr-xr-x+ 13 HBADMIN staff 442 Aug 23 11:40 HBADMIN
drwxr-xr-x+ 17 186430343 2054444 578 Jun 30 10:42 <username>
There are numbers instead of descriptions. I can access and move around the <username> directory.
If I ls -l in the Users folder I see the folder but it looks a little different than the other folders.. ie:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Jun 30 2009 .localized
drwxr-xr-x+ 13 HBADMIN staff 442 Aug 23 11:40 HBADMIN
drwxr-xr-x+ 17 186430343 2054444 578 Jun 30 10:42 <username>
There are numbers instead of descriptions. I can access and move around the <username> directory.
ASKER
And it's a regular user Im trying to reset the password for. root and an admin account both work fine.
It looks like something you did with dscl may have screwed up something... ...did it look like that (the folder) before the dscl command?
What are the contents of the folder looking like? i.e. is everything inside the folder still intact? Movies, Photos, Documents, Library etc..
If it's truly screwed then see if you can rename the folder, delete the original user (but not user folder), recreate the user, login as root, copy the contents of the original folder into the new user folder.
What are the contents of the folder looking like? i.e. is everything inside the folder still intact? Movies, Photos, Documents, Library etc..
If it's truly screwed then see if you can rename the folder, delete the original user (but not user folder), recreate the user, login as root, copy the contents of the original folder into the new user folder.
Yeah, from root or another admin, delete the user and safe the folder.
Recreate the user. Move content back..
Any chance the user comes from AD?? (those numbers look like AD user id's..)
Recreate the user. Move content back..
Any chance the user comes from AD?? (those numbers look like AD user id's..)
If both the root and admin pw are working, you could just login as one of them and reset the password in the accounts pane or in terminal type passwd username.
ASKER
Thats the problem - the user account doesn't show in the User Accounts utility. From what I understand the laptop WAS joined to the domain at one point but has since been removed. The user logs in locally.
So how would I delete the user account from a terminal session or from Command+S at the chime screen. Please note - I AM A MAC NEWBIE.
Yes, the contents of the users folder all appear to be 100% intact.
So how would I delete the user account from a terminal session or from Command+S at the chime screen. Please note - I AM A MAC NEWBIE.
Yes, the contents of the users folder all appear to be 100% intact.
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ASKER
Thanks!