Cannot log in to new user accounts

I am a long time Apple user and am completely confounded by a problem I am having creating new user accounts on my G4/400 PowerMac running OX 10.4.11. I've been attempting to setup some user accounts for my kids to use. I have no problems setting up the accounts but when I log out of mine and try to log in as them the login window shakes from side to side indicating an incorrect password. This is something that I had a problem a year ago and never solved and today I am trying once again with out success. I feel like I am doing everything correctly since I've been able to do this on my G3 iBook and MacBook.
Here are a few things I've also done.
-repaired permissions on the drive ( I have 2 in the machine right now but the other is just my iTunes LIbrary drive)
-deleted the old user accounts that I setup but couldn't access.
-tried setting up more new accounts
-repeated the process several times without ever being able to successfully login to any of the new accounts that I created.
Any advice to solve this problem would be appreciated.
Thanks
Chris

Hi cc_mac,
I don't know if you have solved this one yet, but I had exactly the same issue when I recently had a hard drive failure and had to re-install everything. I had copies of all my files, but when I went to set up the user accounts, I could create each account, but I couldn't log in.
There is a simple solution, you will need to be in an admin account and you will need to use the command line, so open up a terminal window.
Use the following command for each account you need to fix:
sudo passwd <username>
where <username> is the account name that you cannot currently log in to.
You will need to enter your admin password to allow you to use sudo, so do that. Then you will be asked to type in the new password for the new account. Just to be absolutely sure, you will be asked to re-enter the new password, so do that, and you are done.
Log out of your admin account, this should bring you back to the log in screen. Now, if everything has gone according to plan, you should have an operational user account.
I'm not sure what the cause of this issue is but it might be some sort of permissions issue happening in the background. Nevertheless, manually setting the password this way seems to have fixed it for me. I sincerely hope this helps you too.
Kind Regards,
Mark D.

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Log into your new user account and then locate this file; com.apple.Dock.plist
It's here: /Users/YourName/Library/Preferences. Drag that file from the Preferences folder to the Trash, empty the trash and reboot. Log in to the new user account and see if the Dock is there. You can access your applications from the Applications folder, not just the Dock. Double click your MacintoshHD icon on your Desktop, then click Applications... voila!
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Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

New User Account Access

I have created a new user account, and I am trying to put on Parental Controls. An example is that I want the new user to access Excel and Word and NOT MSN. When I "add" these applications under the parental controls it seems the new user id either gets access to all the MS Applications or none. How do I create this type of access? Do I create shared folders, make an alias and all user access to just the folder?

Hello,
Log into your new user account and then locate this file; com.apple.Dock.plist
It's here: /Users/YourName/Library/Preferences. Drag that file from the Preferences folder to the Trash, empty the trash and reboot. Log in to the new user account and see if the Dock is there. You can access your applications from the Applications folder, not just the Dock. Double click your MacintoshHD icon on your Desktop, then click Applications... voila!
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Creating a new user account and curious log in behavior...

First off I'd just like to apologize if that is not the correct place to be posting this, but after looking around I don't see a perfect fit for this topic anywhere, so I figured here should be okay. Also I want to apologize if this turns out to be a rather lengthy post, I just want to ensure that I supply all info...
Okay, so about a month ago I recognized that my current user account is slowly but surely taking longer and longer to "boot up" after I put in my password and tell it to log in. What usually happens is that I click log in, the background image and taskbar almost immediately pop up but nothing else (finder icons, dock, and the multiple icons in the taskbar which include the airport signal, user name, bluetooth status, battery strength, volume, and my iChat and Adium status) the only things to immediately "activate" in the taskbar are the clock and spotlight.
As of late when I log in something especially strange is happening in that after the 5 or so minutes it takes the dock, rest of taskbar, and finder icons to appear my PB will play the default Apple sound of me emptying trash, rather there is anything actually in the trash or not. It dosen't delete the objects in the trash (if any, as I usually keep it empty), just simply plays the sound. I'm not sure if it playing this sound ties in any with the lagging log in times, I just wanted to mention it as the log in times have slowed down considerably since this sound started.
Bottom line given that there is no way that I know of fixing this problem, I am planning to simply create a new user account. Actually I have already created the new account (by the way, it logs in literally instantaneously, and does not make the strange trash being emptied sound) but was looking for info on how to get all of my files from one account to the other. Unfortunately for me everytime that I install a program and the dialog box pops up asking if you want to install it on all user accounts or just the current one I always click "just the current one" (please don't ask why, as there is seriously no reasoning to this at all...), so is there a way to transfer my current programs from one user account to the other without reinstalling??? It's actually not that many programs I'm talking about here (Shapeshifter, Xounds, XFactor, AIM, Adium, Cocktail, Toast, Popcorn, iPod Rip, and Office), I just figured that if I can simply transfer rather than reinstalling them, it would be a lot easier.
However my 2 primary concerns are my iTunes and iPhoto libraries (3330 songs and 4182 pcitures respectively), considering that I've spent literally hours making countless playlist in iTunes, and countless folders, slideshows, and books in iPhoto, if I was to lose all this it would truly be a mess.
I know I'm probably making a big deal out of this and it's an extremely easy and basic process, please just pardon this still pretty new Mac user and help me out:) Also if anybody else has experienced the log in slow down or strange trash being emptied sound I would be glad to hear your experiences.
Thanks in advance!!!
Mervyn

Hi Mervin,
Bottom line given that there is no way that I know of fixing this problem, I am planning to simply create a new user account.
You can do that (but I wouldn't) this KB article outlines how:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=155373
Basically you will copy the folders within your old home to replace the folders in the new home. Here is a list of specific folders if you decide to do that but a better solution would be to sort your existing user.
Here where your important data is stored ("~" stands for "Home"):
Your Data in Documents
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Application Support/iCal(copy the whole folder)
Also in ~ / Library/ Application Support (copy whatever else you need)
~ /Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist * This is a very important file which contains all email account settings and general mail preferences.
~ / Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
~ / Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
~ / Library/iMovie (copy the whole folder)
~/ Pictures/iPhoto Library
If you want cookies:
~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
~/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
so is there a way to transfer my current programs from one user account to the other without reinstalling???
As for applications, they should all be in your Application folder(there is only one) and available to ALL users, unless you have put "limitations" or "parental controls" on the account.
Now to the best course of action:
To find the issue affecting your existing user account, follow these steps:
Log back into your normal user account:
1. Navigate to ~(yourhome/library/fonts - drag this folder to the desktop.
      Restart and test your applications.
      If they work start adding the fonts back few at a time.
( Likely suspects are Time RO & Helvetica Fractions, also if you do not use Classic you can trash the classic fonts.)
2. Check Preferences Thoroughly;
      Navigate to ~(yourhome/library/preferences drag this folder to the desktop.
      Restart and test your applications.
      If this works, save the old preferences folder somewhere else or on disk, name it "old prefs" .
** Note: A very important file is the "com.apple.Mail.plist" preference file located in the Preferences folder which contains all email account settings and general mail preferences (hold this one and replace if your problem is not with Mail).
You'll have to go through some of your System Preferences and apps to set the preferences back to how you like them. (Or if you have the time and inclination, "cherry pick" through until you find the problem one or two.)
3. Check Permissions Inside Home Folder
   Navigate to yourhome/library.
   Get Info (Command - i) on folders for apps you are having problems with.
   Open the "Ownership & permissions" disclosure triangle.
   Make sure you are the owner, with "read and write" access.
Click on "apply to all"
   If this is correct, open the "Applications Support" folder and do the same      procedure (Command+I) for the folders with the names of the applications you are      having trouble with.
Note:
The reason to check this is because repairing permissions with Disk Utility doesn't touch permissions inside your home folder.
If the isssue persists navigate to ~/library/caches and drag this folder to the trash, then log out and back or restart. There is no need to replace this folder.
Good luck, let us know.

My friend gave his Macbook pro to me a month ago but he forgot his password. I want to log him out and creat a new user account of myself.

my friend gave his Macbook pro to me a month ago but he forgot his password. I want to log him out and creat a new user account of myself.

Did your friend also provided you with the original DVDs that came with the MacBook Pro?

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The only way I found to address this issue was as following:
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- Once logged on, and desktop and icons shows up for you, is done.
- Then, close new user session or restart your computer normally
This started to happen to me after a Windows 7 update for 'Service Pack 1'.
It seems to be an error in this update because the normal process to create a new user only creates the name in the list but no folders and other files necessary to start sessions. The profile is not fully created by the normal process. Then you need to
start the process in SAFE MODE, because it only loads the very basic functions for the OS, no drivers, no services, no antivirus....
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Thanks.
A.V.

Unable to log in to the user account [username] at this time

My Powerbook G4 is running Mac OS X 10.4.11
Processor: 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4
Memory: 768 MB DDR SDRAM
Startup Disk Macintosh HD
Serial # 4H511OAJRJ5
Capacity 74.4 GB
Available: 2.3 GB
My problems began when I had a warning message that read something like, “your startup disk is getting full. Delete some files”
Around the same time my battery was showing signs of being spent (wouldn’t take a full charge) and would shutdown my powerbook in the middle of operation. I replaced the battery within 12 hours, rebooted, and everything seemed normal; I could log in and access all programs, files, photos, music, etc. The error message reappeared to deletes some files. I ran TechTool Deluxes and it suggested repairing my Volume Directory. There were a few suggestions in green and one in red. I accepted the ones in green and made the changes. It reopened TechTool and ran again, this time everything showed up as a “red” (drastic) directory change. I did not accept. I shut down. I rebooted, and that is when my heart sank.
My account log in screen appeared (I have my master account and a “test” account available) and I entered my log in password. After several moments, the message “You are unable to log in to the user account [username] at this time.” I can log in to my “test” account but I have not been able to access any of my files from that account. Also, my Test account appears to be running Panther instead of Tiger; could that be? Anyway, I read some similar problem posts here and was hopeful that DiskWarrior could help restore me. I purchased and ran it successfully (at least DiskWarrior said it was a success) but I still have the same results.
I tried to access both my caches folder and my Desktop folder from my “test” account, but these are the error messages I received:
The folder “Caches” could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges.
The folder “Desktop” could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges.
I was shocked to see my Available space was only 2.5 GB. I don’t know how that can be right.
I’m open to anything to retrieve my files – Any suggestions?

Around the same time my battery was showing signs of being spent (wouldn’t take a full charge) and would shutdown my powerbook in the middle of operation. I replaced the battery within 12 hours, rebooted, and everything seemed normal; I could log in and access all programs, files, photos, music, etc. The error message reappeared to deletes some files.
You need to delete some file not try to repair the disk volume. but anyway...
I ran TechTool Deluxes and it suggested repairing my Volume Directory. There were a few suggestions in green and one in red. I accepted the ones in green and made the changes. It reopened TechTool and ran again, this time everything showed up as a “red” (drastic) directory change. I did not accept. I shut down. I rebooted, and that is when my heart sank.
You need to develop a full backup plan. Get an external hd and backup to it.
My account log in screen appeared (I have my master account and a “test” account available) and I entered my log in password. After several moments, the message “You are unable to log in to the user account [username] at this time.”
Would you be using filevault? Which would mean you need more space.
I can log in to my “test” account but I have not been able to access any of my files from that account. Also, my Test account appears to be running Panther instead of Tiger; could that be?
Doubtful. What does apple > about this mac say?
Anyway, I read some similar problem posts here and was hopeful that DiskWarrior could help restore me. I purchased and ran it successfully (at least DiskWarrior said it was a success) but I still have the same results.
I tried to access both my caches folder and my Desktop folder from my “test” account, but these are the error messages I received:
The folder “Caches” could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges.
The folder “Desktop” could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges.
Which desktop folder? these are normal messages.
I was shocked to see my Available space was only 2.5 GB. I don’t know how that can be right.
Why?
I’m open to anything to retrieve my files – Any suggestions?
I buy an external disk with both fireware & usb and use carbon copy cloner to duplicate you hd.
run batcmd from an admin account to let you change permissions.
From an administrator account enable root & be careful. This will let you look at any file on the system & delete everything!!!
Get a new admin id.
"BatChmod is a Cocoa utility for manipulating file and folder privileges in Mac OS X. It allows the manipulation of ownership as well as the privileges associated to the Owner, Group or others."
http://www.macchampion.com/arbysoft/Welcome.html
As an aside, I just noticed that the button to "apply to all enclosed items' is greyed out. I started checking other folders and best I can tell, all folders on my startup volume will not allow me to apply any permission changes to all enclosed items. Think this might have something to do with the alias issue?
I noticed that my "apply to all enclosed items' button is greyed out too. I use BatChmod fps instead.
Get the Mac to set up an additional administrative account. You can then change the password on your old account.
Start with your computer power off. Hold down command-s. Power on your computer.
Type in the following:
The first two commands will depend on your release of Mac OS X. Look at what is typed out in the console to determine the exact format.
# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write. Press return after each command.
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
cd /var/db
pwd
#List all files. The l is a lower case L.
ls -a
#The move command acts as a rename command in this format.
mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old
reboot
Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!
Limnos adds detailed explainations:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8441597#8441597
The above the idea came from a post by JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/howdo_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_rootpassword.html
You will need to scroll down to see this post. Search for applesetupdone
Or see:
http://superpixel.ch/articles/running-setup-assistant-again/
Once you have a new administrative account, you can change the password of your old administrative account
blue apple > System Preferences > Accounts

Unable to log in to the user account (name) at this time

I get this error message when I try to log-in in my main admin account. And this is not a lost password issue I know im typing the write password because when I type a wrong one the box shakes when I type the right one it gives me that message.
I tried alot of stuff to gain access to it but I cannot, the only thing that I can do is go in as root user and extract the files that I had in there, but I have no physcial access to the login it self, I started making a different account name for it but I dont want to lose all my prefrenses although I think the only thing that is making it this way is File Vault (its swtiched on for the locked out account)
Any thoughts?

I'm also getting the dreaded "You are unable to log in to the user account __ at this time" but believe this happened when I inadvertently tuned off an external hard drive without ejecting it first. At first, I thought it was a File Vault problem, but my user.sparseimage file is still there and accessible once I changed the permissions to those of another user account.
What I have come to believe, based on other postings I have read on this topic, at least in my case, is that I must have corrupted the logged in user on the netinfo file. The solutions I've seen so far for fixing the netinfo file seem pretty complicated, though I do have a backup of that file.
I have yet to decide whether the netinfo problem is easily fixable or if I would better employ my time moving my iTunes and iPhoto files off that sparse image and into another user account. I'm open to suggestions.
Bill
iBook G-4 Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.33 GHz, 768 MB memory, 60 GB HD, iPod Shuffle

"Unable to log in to the user account"

I'm having a problem I'm hoping one of you may have come up against and
solved. We have two Mac OSX.4 servers - one a login server, the other
contains the student Homes folders. Now when a student who has an account
from last year logs in, a message says "You are unable to log in to the user
account "username" at this time. Logging in to the account failed because an
error occurred. The home folder for the user account is located on an AFP or
SMB server. Contact your system administrator for help."
It seems there is a problem with the hand off from the login server to the
data server. I can connect to the data server through Connect to Server
while logged on as admin, so the server is accessible on line. I double-checked the Sharing info of the shared points and they are set correctly. Also, when I run Server Monitor, the stats summary for both servers says "waiting for response."
Any ideas? Thanks!

Mike
Server Monitor is an application that monitors XServe hardware providing feedback for the administrator. It has nothing to do with the Server Operating System. If your trying to use it on anything other than an XServe all you'll see is "Waiting for Response" all day long.
If your hardware is an XServe then you need to use either localhost or the server's loopback address (127.0.0.1) in the name field followed by the default admin's account's password.
+"The home folder for the user account is located on an AFP or+
+SMB server. Contact your system administrator for help"+
This error is usually down to (but not always) a DNS/DHCP issue or some other obscure network related issue affecting DNS. What does the logs say server and client side when the log-in fails?
Its possible the affected user no longer exists as a principal? Does the same thing happen to this user regardless of which client computer is used? You could search the schema using dscl from a client to see if the affected user is listed in the LDAP database? Alternatively you could issue:
sudo kadmin.local -q list_principals
On the server itself. If the affected user is not listed but exists in WGM then review the password type. It's possible its been set to Crypt? You could delete the user and re-create the account again and re-locating the home folder and trying again. It's also possible the student's home folder has developed a problem? Does the 'jiggle' and error occur immediately or after a slight delay? Do you have a strict Password Policy in place? Sometimes problems can develop with the Password Policy (it does get logged) that affects single accounts only.
You could try and create a completely new account and home for the affected user. Transfer the data from the old home propagate default permissions and go for a log-in again. Does it work now?
I'm assuming the two servers in question are in a Master/Replica relationship?
Tony

Setting Up a New User Account - iTunes issue

My wife and I were both using our Mac as a single user, but logging into iTunes under separate iTunes accounts to download our own music and apps.
This week I set up a new User Account in her name, and transferred all music and apps to her User Account so she would be able to access and sync on her own account, just by fast switching, rather than logging into iTunes each visit.
When she plugs her phone into the iMac to sync via iTunes, she gets the following message:
*iTunes could not sync information to the iPhone " " because another sync client is already running*.
Anyone had this problem and found a solution ?

I recently had this same error message problem with my 3GS. Here's everything I did, one of the steps solved the problem...
1. Restarted with the phone unattached.
2. Repaired permissions using Disk Utility.
3. Restarted the phone. Here's where I had some difficulty: After swiping to confirm the shutdown, the screen went black, and I had the spinning icon that wouldn't go away. I ended up having to hold the lock and home buttons down to force shutdown the phone. I powered it back up, and it took forever to start, but it eventually did. I then power-cycled it one more time, and everything was back to normal.
4. Started up iTunes. Go into the preferences, and under the "Devices" tab, I found my previous backup. I deleted it.
5. Plugged in the phone, and everything was normal. iTunes made a new backup, so the sync took awhile, but it was successful.
Good luck!

Old user account not accessible - Had to create new user account

Why was I forced to create a new user account in order to access Apple discussions? The last time I had posted to Apple discussions was 11/06. From the emails notifying me of replies to my post, I can still go to the link where my question and the replies are. Last week I wanted to post another question. Instead I encountered a circular problem. Every time I tried to log in to discussions with my Apple ID and password (the same as my .Mac name and password, which were working fine for accessing .Mac), I was told that there was an error in my password. When I tried again, I was repeatedly re-directed to a "create new user account" web page that listed my .Mac email address as my Apple ID, as it should have. I tried to re-create my old user account with my own [real] name (as before) and was told that name was in use! Of course, it was me! (I had always used by real first name and surname as my name on Apple discussions.) So finally, very frustrated, I created a new name, a nickname, for discussions, and it worked. Now, all my previous posts are gone. It's as if I didn't exist in the Apple world until today, 9/16/07, but I originally had established my user account in 2004. I tried asking about this in a phone call to Apple support, but I was re-directed to the .Mac web site. Then I posted a question at .Mac feedback to no avail. I had a feeling that as soon as I "obeyed" and created a new user account that wouldn't be recognized as myself, my past posts would be sent into oblivion. I don't like losing all my previous posts that were attached to my user account. I have found this problem very frustrating and would really like an explanation.

Hi decemberbaby,
Try this procedure.
Delete all the Apple Cookies in your browser, and empty the Cache.
Go here Discussions Sign In, and try logging in with your original Apple ID again.
If that still doesn't work, delete the Cookies again, and go to My Info, and log in with the original Apple ID.
If you get the error message "Your Apple ID or password was entered incorrectly.", click on "Did you forget your password? Click here for assistance".
On the page that opens, you can also click on "Forget your Apple ID
ali b

Can't create new user account....

Hi- I am trying to create a new user account so that I can see if some of the issues I am having with my G4 Mac also are issues under a different account. I have (several times) created a new account and assigned a password and also tried having no password. Either logging out or using Fast User Switching, I click on the new user icon and either type in the password (I know I have it correct since it's my default password) or not type it in if I have no password set, and click on login. That's when I get the shaking window. No matter what I do, I can't login!! I am at a loss of what to do or what could be causing this. Any help will make me a happy Mac user again! Judy
PS- After I had this problem surface, I ran Monoligual and got rid of lots of language support and I also ran Font Nuke to clean out some font caches.... but these were run after I had problems setting up a new user account. I was having issues with the new upgrade for my genealogy program, Reunion (still having issues actually-they can't figure out what's causing the problem) and I removed some "things" from Login Items. Can't tell you what they were but I have some there still. I ran Disk Warrior and iDefrag also recently. Also have repaired permissions. The other issue I had (yesterday anyway-haven't used it much today yet) is that Safari was crashing when I was accessing my public library's online catalog............. I don't know if any of these are related to my inability to create a new user account or not but thought I'd throw that into the mix.

You say a dialog comes up for you to enter a password when you don't have a password while using Fast User Switching. That should not happen.
If you set up an account without setting the password, Fast User Switching won't bring up the password dialog for that account. Instead, it will instantly switch to that account when you choose it.
Make sure there is nothing in the password field when you set up the account, or change the password and don't type anything in for either the new or verify fields. It'll ask you to confirm that you don't want a password and "Cancel" will be the default button. Choose the "Ok" button instead.
That should do it. If not, then I have no idea.

After creating a new user account, how do I move my files into the new user?

I have an issue where my 'Desktop/Screensaver' prefs seem to be corrupt somehow. When I click on that icon in System Preferences, it stalls and I get the spinning ball, thus resulting in a force quit. After reading a Mac Format magazine where someone wrote in with a similar issue, they said to trash various prefs (did that and made no difference) and if that didn't work, try creating a New User account (therefore creating brand new system prefs) and move your stuff over.
Well, I've created the New User account, but I can't figure out how to move/copy my stuff into the user folders. After copying and attempting to move stuff in, I see folders with a red circle with a white line through it (like a 'no entry' sign).
Any clue as to how this can be done? All I'm trying to do is to reinstate the system prefs so they are not corrupt anymore on my log-in.

No. Not the main Library folder. Make absolutely sure you are in the Home Library folder and not the main Library folder.
Your Home Library folder is hidden in Lion. To get to it, in the Finder menu, select GO and hold the option key down. Select Library in the submenu. The Finder window will open in your Home Library. This is where your user prefs are stored.
Once there, you will see the Preferences folder. Open it up, select all items within it and move them to the trash. You will need to restart in order for the new Finder preferences to be recreated.
Once you restart, then you will be back to the default preferences to the system and all applications. And yes, it will affect all settings including your Dock, just as logging into a new user. You will have to reset everything there also.
If you wish to do a selective method, instead of deleting all preferences, try deleting the one associated with your problem. Screen saver problems should be affected by the system preferences, so try deleting this:
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
com.apple.systempreferences.plist.lockfile
Note that when you delete system file preferences, a restart will be required. For applications, just quit the application before trashing preference files.

Cannot log in to new user accounts

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