For Mac Users the ADMIN password

[Betty LaRue]

I’m running Big Sur, 2020 iMac with Intel. (I think Intel22 or something like that) I tried to upgrade the OS to Ventura. It asks for my Admin password, and it won’t accept it. The box shakes like it has the palsy when it refuses the pw.

I did some research, and found this is a known problem, a bug with Big Sur. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but some. I reinstalled Big Sur hoping a patch had been applied since my 1st install to fix it. No love.

Further research told of a way (with my particular Intel chip) to get the computer into recovery by shutting off computer. Press Cmd + R while restarting, then it goes into Recovery mode. On that page, I had to give my name & password for that x 2, then Admin password x 2. Both buttons beside those actions turned green. The last step was to turn off computer again & reboot. It looked as if everything should be a GO but when I tried installing Ventura again, it still didn’t accept my password.

There we’re other methods that could be tried, but they would wipe out everything in Keychain, so I’d lose all my auto sign-ins & have to input passwords to all the sites I use. I’m not sure I have them all written down. I did at one point, but since have changed most to higher security passwords. I think I know the bulk of them, but….

I hope some of you may have faced this bug, resolved it, and can tell me how you did it. Or tell me of that magic place again where I can find my current passwords. MDM told me once..but I’ve forgotten.

Thanks.

Betty

Edited June 14, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[M.Chapman]

Passwords can be accessed via the Keychain Access.app (assuming you can get into your Mac). Another option is to contact Apple Support online, they're really helpful.

 

Mark

Edited June 14, 2023 by M.Chapman

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

OMG Betty what an absolute nightmare !  I'm sure with help from our colleagues on here you will get it sorted but I do feel your pain !

 

I haven't upgraded yet to Ventura I am still running Monterey.  I remember when Ventura came out folk on here thought it best to wait a while and I was just thinking the other day maybe now is the time to update my Mac.  Ho hum, I think I will leave it a while unless anyone on here says different - sorry don't wish to hijack your post.  My iMac is the 2017 version.

 

Here's hoping you get it sorted🙏

 

 

Carol

[Michael Ventura]

8 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I tried installing Ventura again, it still didn’t accept my password.

 

We Venturas can be very cantankerous.  Sorry, couldn't resist.  I do hope it gets all sorted for you Betty!

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said:

OMG Betty what an absolute nightmare !  I'm sure with help from our colleagues on here you will get it sorted but I do feel your pain !

 

I haven't upgraded yet to Ventura I am still running Monterey.  I remember when Ventura came out folk on here thought it best to wait a while and I was just thinking the other day maybe now is the time to update my Mac.  Ho hum, I think I will leave it a while unless anyone on here says different - sorry don't wish to hijack your post.  My iMac is the 2017 version.

 

Here's hoping you get it sorted🙏

 

 

Carol

Thanks. I spent 6 1/2 hours messing with it yesterday. Like you, I waited a long time for the bugs in Ventura to be resolved but if I get my problem resolved, I’m not sure if I want to now. Even so, there might be other things eventually for me to need my password to work. And if I remember right, we are more or less forced to upgrade the OS or some new software might not work in the future.

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

We Venturas can be very cantankerous.  Sorry, couldn't resist.  I do hope it gets all sorted for you Betty!

Please tell your relative I’ve had enough! 😁

[Cal]

Something you could try is using single user mode (or a console in recovery mode) and the passwd command to change your password, but this is somewhat complicated and a not ideal way of doing it, particularly on a modern OS.

 

Do check that when you are getting the prompt to enter your password that the username correlates to the account password you're putting in. That sounds basic but it's possible the username has changed without you spotting. If your admin user account and regular user account are not one and the same, for simplicity change their passwords to both be the same, at least for now. You mention your name and password, then an admin password, but honestly most people just use one account. Do you have a separate admin account, or just your regular account? If the latter, then your admin password is your user password.

 

It's very very unlikely that something has corrupted at the system level such that the password you are entering is correct but has somehow corrupted, so I'd work through it and make sure you are definitely entering the correct details.

[MDM]

On Big Sur your current passwords will be saved in Safari - Prefs - Passwords. That should not be a massive issue anyway as you should be able to recover most passwords these days on the relevant websites.

 

I had this happen on Christmas Eve 2020 with Big Sur when I upgraded from Catalina. At first I thought it was malware but I managed to get back into the computer (afterwards I read about the bug). Then I simply wiped (reformatted) the disk in recovery mode and did a clean install after making sure all important files are backed up. You should have access to any important software online nowadays. If you have been ok installing and reinstalling then that is what I would recommend. It's like getting a brand new computer. The great thing about doing an install is that you become more confident doing it next time. With a clean install you are completely stripping the computer so it is really important to have everything backed up.

 

One password recovery option is to check Allow User to Reset Password Using Apple ID in Users and Groups panel. However, it sounds like something is corrupted and this might not work - I never figured it out as the clean install was fine and it never re-occurred. 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by MDM

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

On Big Sur your current passwords will be saved in Safari - Prefs - Passwords. That should not be a massive issue anyway as you should be able to recover most passwords these days on the relevant websites.

 

I had this happen on Christmas Eve 2020 with Big Sur when I upgraded from Catalina. At first I thought it was malware but I managed to get back into the computer (afterwards I read about the bug). Then I simply wiped (reformatted) the disk in recovery mode and did a clean install after making sure all important files are backed up. You should have access to any important software online nowadays. If you have been ok installing and reinstalling then that is what I would recommend. It's like getting a brand new computer. The great thing about doing an install is that you become more confident doing it next time. With a clean install you are completely stripping the computer so it is really important to have everything backed up.

 

One password recovery option is to check Allow User to Reset Password Using Apple ID in Users and Groups panel. However, it sounds like something is corrupted and this might not work - I never figured it out as the clean install was fine and it never re-occurred. 

 

 

Thank you, Michael. I always value your knowledge. I’m don’t think I’m comfortable with a clean install, but possible I might have to do that if other methods I haven’t tried yet doesn’t work. The password recovery option you mention sounds like it’s in my wheelhouse. I’ll try it.
I want to ask you how you are doing with long Covid. The last you mentioned it was still up & down, good times then…Bam. I would hope the good times are lasting longer by now. Like you, my son had Covid twice, but had fast recoveries and no lasting effects. The first was worse, fever for 3 days, feeling a lot better took 7-10 days, the second lasted about 3 days total.

[MDM]

Thanks Betty. I am way way better now than I have been since before getting Covid for the first time in March 2020 and hopefully I am over Long Covid but it would be tempting fate to say that for sure. The last few months have been great, getting out photographing and videoing wild flowers, doing a bit of country walking as well and getting fitter than I have been in a long time. So here's hoping.

 

In relation to your problem, I'm not entirely clear what is happening. Are you saying you can log in to Big Sur and it is only a problem with Ventura or are you completely locked out of your account? If the former do you need to upgrade now? If the latter then it is worth trying to reset the password with your Apple ID if you have already set that up in your user account. I can't remember if it defaults to that in Big Sur. Instructions here  on how to do that with Big Sur in any case

 

I've stayed with Monterey for now as I am worried that my printer will no longer work if I upgrade as Apple seem to have been messing about with printer drivers. 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, MDM said:

Thanks Betty. I am way way better now than I have been since before getting Covid for the first time in March 2020 and hopefully I am over Long Covid but it would be tempting fate to say that for sure. The last few months have been great, getting out photographing and videoing wild flowers, doing a bit of country walking as well and getting fitter than I have been in a long time. So here's hoping.

 

In relation to your problem, I'm not entirely clear what is happening. Are you saying you can log in to Big Sur and it is only a problem with Ventura or are you completely locked out of your account? If the former do you need to upgrade now? If the latter then it is worth trying to reset the password with your Apple ID if you have already set that up in your user account. I can't remember if it defaults to that in Big Sur. Instructions here  on how to do that with Big Sur in any case

 

I've stayed with Monterey for now as I am worried that my printer will no longer work if I upgrade as Apple seem to have been messing about with printer drivers. 

Actually, I didn’t log into Big Sur. I don’t know how to.  I did the hat trick (followed Internet directions) to open Recovery, & changed passwords. There were other options on the recovery page, one of them was reinstall Big Sur. I clicked on that & it installed. Whether that is the proper way to do it, I haven’t a clue.  And no, I put off upgrading to Ventura because of possible bugs but enough time has passed I thought maybe I should. I now think I won’t if I could lose my printer!! 🤯😱

 

7 hours ago, Cal said:

You mention your name and password, then an admin password, but honestly most people just use one account. Do you have a separate admin account, or just your regular account? If the latter, then your admin password is your user password.

Cal, all I know when I got into Recovery, there were two things on it. One said Betty with a butterfly pic beside it. It had a place to input a password.  Next line said Admin. It had a place to input a password. Both x two.

Does that mean I have two Admin accounts?  The “Betty” one doesn’t say Admin. 

You must realize I know absolutely nothing about computer innards. It rather terrified me to get into the Recovery place. Do both of these, Betty and Admin need to have the identical passwords? Right now, they have different ones. That’s exactly what I mean by “know nothing”. You & most people would know whether the passwords should be the same or different. I don’t know that.

[Cal]

40 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Actually, I didn’t log into Big Sur. I don’t know how to.  I did the hat trick (followed Internet directions) to open Recovery, & changed passwords. There were other options on the recovery page, one of them was reinstall Big Sur. I clicked on that & it installed. Whether that is the proper way to do it, I haven’t a clue.  And no, I put off upgrading to Ventura because of possible bugs but enough time has passed I thought maybe I should. I now think I won’t if I could lose my printer!! 🤯😱

 

Cal, all I know when I got into Recovery, there were two things on it. One said Betty with a butterfly pic beside it. It had a place to input a password.  Next line said Admin. It had a place to input a password. Both x two.

Does that mean I have two Admin accounts?  The “Betty” one doesn’t say Admin. 

You must realize I know absolutely nothing about computer innards. It rather terrified me to get into the Recovery place. Do both of these, Betty and Admin need to have the identical passwords? Right now, they have different ones. That’s exactly what I mean by “know nothing”. You & most people would know whether the passwords should be the same or different. I don’t know that.

 

So you have two accounts by the sounds of it - Betty and Admin - but I'd be surprised if your Betty account wasn't also an admin. It'd be unusual for a home computer to be set up any other way. In a normal situation the passwords for each should be different, but for the purposes of troubleshooting it'd make it easier if you set them both to the same password, for now. That way when the updater asks for your "admin password" the one you put in will be correct (and the same one you use to log in with). When the updater asks for your password I would be interested to know what it displays as the username. Normally it will preselect your currently logged in account.

[Betty LaRue]

19 minutes ago, Cal said:

 

So you have two accounts by the sounds of it - Betty and Admin - but I'd be surprised if your Betty account wasn't also an admin. It'd be unusual for a home computer to be set up any other way. In a normal situation the passwords for each should be different, but for the purposes of troubleshooting it'd make it easier if you set them both to the same password, for now. That way when the updater asks for your "admin password" the one you put in will be correct (and the same one you use to log in with). When the updater asks for your password I would be interested to know what it displays as the username. Normally it will preselect your currently logged in account.

Today was a busy & tiring day. I’m vegging out at the moment. I spent hours & hours on the computer yesterday. I will probably go into Recovery again tomorrow & set both passwords to the same one. Since I’ve decided to not update to Ventura, now, I don’t know what other time I would be asked. This is the first time (trying to upgrade to Ventura) that I’ve been asked for my admin password since installing Big Sur. I sure appreciate yours & Michael’s advice.

Is there some other way to test that I’ve fixed it besides upgrading the OS?

[Allan Bell]

10 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Today was a busy & tiring day. I’m vegging out at the moment. I spent hours & hours on the computer yesterday. I will probably go into Recovery again tomorrow & set both passwords to the same one. Since I’ve decided to not update to Ventura, now, I don’t know what other time I would be asked. This is the first time (trying to upgrade to Ventura) that I’ve been asked for my admin password since installing Big Sur. I sure appreciate yours & Michael’s advice.

Is there some other way to test that I’ve fixed it besides upgrading the OS?

 

Betty my new Mac mini pro 2 is running Ventura and I do not have any problems with it.  I did have problems on change over from my old iMac but that was my fault. All working OK now I hope.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Betty my new Mac mini pro 2 is running Ventura and I do not have any problems with it.  I did have problems on change over from my old iMac but that was my fault. All working OK now I hope.

 

Allan

 

Does your printer work with it? How old is your printer? Mine is pretty old.

[MDM]

To clarify what I was talking about in relation to printing, for years now Apple will install macOS AirPrint over the manufacturer's printer driver. A lot of people will probably never even realise this is happening and will be perfectly happy with the results as long as they are not attempting to print images in a colour managed workflow. AirPrint has very few options to change anything and it does not allow the use of printer profiles which are essential for a colour managed workflow.

 

The solution for years now has been to simply install the manufacturer's printer driver (in my case a high quality Epson printer, now no longer made) and make it the default over the macOS version. This has been easy to do until the last few macOS updates but I am now finding that macOS is continually trying to use AirPrint and I have to reset it every time I make a new print - a right PITA. It still works but for how long? I don't know if it will work in Ventura but I have no need for Ventura at the moment - hence I have stayed with Monterey .

 

If you don't make photographic prints or you don't use a colour managed workflow then none of this matters. And it may not anyway but i don't like the way Apple is forcing AirPrint on me. So for once I am not chancing an OS update it as I have quite a bit of ink to use before I would even consider a new printer.

Edited June 15, 2023 by MDM

[Allan Bell]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Does your printer work with it? How old is your printer? Mine is pretty old.

 

Yes it is a cheap old thing too. Like me.

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

To clarify what I was talking about in relation to printing, for years now Apple will install macOS AirPrint over the manufacturer's printer driver. A lot of people will probably never even realise this is happening and will be perfectly happy with the results as long as they are not attempting to print images in a colour managed workflow. AirPrint has very few options to change anything and it does not allow the use of printer profiles which are essential for a colour managed workflow.

 

The solution for years now has been to simply install the manufacturer's printer driver (in my case a high quality Epson printer, now no longer made) and make it the default over the macOS version. This has been easy to do until the last few macOS updates but I am now finding that macOS is continually trying to use AirPrint and I have to reset it every time I make a new print - a right PITA. It still works but for how long? I don't know if it will work in Ventura but I have no need for Ventura at the moment - hence I have stayed with Monterey .

 

If you don't make photographic prints or you don't use a colour managed workflow then none of this matters. And it may not anyway but i don't like the way Apple is forcing AirPrint on me. So for once I am not chancing an OS update it as I have quite a bit of ink to use before I would even consider a new printer.

 

My printer is so old it does not respond to AirPrint.  That is why epson keep asking me to download their updates.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

8 hours ago, MDM said:

To clarify what I was talking about in relation to printing, for years now Apple will install macOS AirPrint over the manufacturer's printer driver. A lot of people will probably never even realise this is happening and will be perfectly happy with the results as long as they are not attempting to print images in a colour managed workflow. AirPrint has very few options to change anything and it does not allow the use of printer profiles which are essential for a colour managed workflow.

 

The solution for years now has been to simply install the manufacturer's printer driver (in my case a high quality Epson printer, now no longer made) and make it the default over the macOS version. This has been easy to do until the last few macOS updates but I am now finding that macOS is continually trying to use AirPrint and I have to reset it every time I make a new print - a right PITA. It still works but for how long? I don't know if it will work in Ventura but I have no need for Ventura at the moment - hence I have stayed with Monterey .

 

If you don't make photographic prints or you don't use a colour managed workflow then none of this matters. And it may not anyway but i don't like the way Apple is forcing AirPrint on me. So for once I am not chancing an OS update it as I have quite a bit of ink to use before I would even consider a new printer.

Thanks for the qualification, Michael. I won’t worry about the printer, then.