iBook G4 Password Change
I have an iBook G4 with OS X that has previous users which I would like to remove, and an Administrator whose password I do not know. I've been a PC user and am not familiar with Macs, but would like to use this great little machine.
I have no OS disk.
I've read some of the previous responses to this question, and tried to follow directions, but I can't get to the list of users, or make any password changes. When I boot to prompts, the prompt I get is Localhost:/ root#
In the list of messages, one says: "Root device is mounted read-only."
Is there a way I can change passwords?
Thanks!
Marc
Thanks for getting back to me!
I held down the Command button (the one with the apple) and the "S" key as the computer began booting up. When the text appeared, there was a lot of stuff that made no sense (to me), but ended with the Localhost prompt: root#
By typing: run '/sbin/fsck I could get to >
Following instructions that I found on this site, like: mount -uw /'
got me no where.
Marc
OK, after booting by holding down Command-S, try:
sh /etc/rc
passwd username
reboot
...where username is the username of the account whose password you want to reset.
OK. At the > prompt, I typed sh /etc/rc then hit return.
I got the > prompt
Then I typed passwd followed by the name of the user I wanted to replace, for example: John passwd John
Then I hit return. I got the same prompt: >
Then I turned off the machine. Then I restarted. The screen came up the same as before with users the same as they had been ... including "John." By the way, there are 3 users.
I guess I'm missing something!
Thanks!
OK, since you plan to ultimately remove the user accounts anyway, perhaps the best approach is to re-run the initial OS X setup wizard (that normally appears after you've installed OS X):
Boot to Single User Mode (Command-S as you've been doing), then:
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
Pay close attention to those commands -- there's a space between mount and -uw, and a space between -uw and the forward slash. Also, on the second command, note the space between rm and /var, and also the period before AppleSetupDone. The "shutdown -h now" is a standard Unix command to halt (shut down) the system. It's best to let the hardware power itself down (since there's filesystem cleanup/checks/dismounts that need to happen at shutdown), instead of simply holding the power button until the machine clicks off.
That did it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I appreciate all your help ... and especially your patient and clear explanations. Now I'll see if I can master the use of my first Mac!
Have a great day,
Marc
My question now has to do with previous users, and the previous Administrator. I noticed that, while I have added myself as a new user, the previous users and Administrator remain ... however, I have no access to their files. Can I replace the previous Administrator and/or delete the other previous users?
Thanks again!
Marc
You can have multiple administrator-level accounts in OS X, so you don't really need to "replace" the existing admin account...the account you created during the setup wizard should have admin-level privileges.
Here's a nice index of all the different things you can do with user accounts in OS X, with guides:
What process have you been following to get to a command prompt? It doesn't sound like you've booted into single-user mode, which IIRC the password-reset procedure is based on. (Single-user mode is akin to Safe Mode in Windows -- sounds like you've instead mounted the filesystem as read-only, which normally only happens when a Unix startup disk check fails.)
Applefritter Admin