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I think I killed my root password...
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Bluebomber21XX
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Livermore, California
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Feb 16, 2003, 04:37 AM
 
Okay, my prying stepbrother has gathered my password for my computer, so naturally I wanted to change it.

I open up NetInfo Manager, unlock it, and go to the users/ tab. I select my account, and in the "passwd" field, I enter my new password. I close NetInfo Manager and open it again to test my new password. The problem now is that my password no longer works.

I can clearly see the password I typed in the field before, but since it won't accept this password, I can't edit it. How do I go about getting my password back, or resetting it? I think I can still log in as root, but I'm not sure. I don't want to log out to test it.

If I can log in as root, how do I change my password?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated, as I have no idea what to do.
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Gul Banana
Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2002
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Feb 16, 2003, 04:58 AM
 
The passwd field contains a hash of your password, not the password itself - whatever you typed in will result in your password being some essentially random and possibly nonexistent 8 letter string. I suggest you reboot from the install CD and use "Reset password".
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entrox
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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Feb 16, 2003, 06:07 AM
 
If you can still login as root, you can change your password through the command-line. Type "passwd <your-username-here>" and it should ask you for a new password.

If you can't do this anymore, then try entering "QmqjqzzlfNeuA" as a password in NetInfo manager. This should be "rescue" in plaintext. I hope, that passwords get encoded in the same way across different machinees (they should, but I'm not sure what kind of authentication mechanisms Darwin employs exactly).

If that doesn't work out, then you'll have to do what the poster before me said.
     
Art Vandelay
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: New York, NY
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Feb 16, 2003, 02:35 PM
 
Also, the proper GUI method of changing your password is to use the "My Account" pref pane in System Preferences.
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