Lost passwords on Mac OS X
January 22nd, 2009 by geprSo, I inherited TDI’s MacBook from Cosmo who acquired a new one. He was nice enough to set up my user account with no password. Well, of course, that was untenable. So, I immediately set my password. … Time passed because I was occupied with other things. And, of course, I forgot the password. (As usual, this episode allowed the Mac vs. PC argument to bubble to the surface again. I rejoice in such arguments because diversity is the key to agility and dissent is the primary marker for diversity.)
Most websites claim you need an OS X install CD to reset the password. But, the helpful “Dr. Michael” showed us the unix way to do it, with which I’m so much more comfortable. In case that post disappears, here is a modified version of what he said that worked for me:
- boot into single user mode (holding command s)
- execute the two recommended commands
/sbin/fsck -fy <return>
and
/sbin/mount -wu / <return>
- type
passwd <username>
- type the new password <return>
- confirm the new password <return>
- restart with
reboot <return>
Tags: computer security, os x, platform zealotry
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:12:54
1) the above solution will not help you with your keychain which is where most of the meaning-full information used on OSX is stored.
2) I still have windows images that are useless because I forgot the password.