Mac OS 10.6.7 Parental Control Time Limit Bug

My son is able to get around time limits on parental control. If he is out of time and requests me to authorize additional time, he has found a way to get it extended (reset). If I give him permission to use the computer for 15 minutes and he logs out with 1 second to go. The Mac resets its clock for another 15 minutes. If he logs out sooner, the clock is correct and only allows him to have the remaining time.
I have seen posting of similar problems for older versions of Mac OS. Does anyone know of a patch for this problem?
Any assistance would be appreciated.

I have a similar issue. The time limits seem to work fine on my computer for both of my sons. However, my 14 yr old just bought a new MacBook and I am the Administrator and set time limits on his new MacBook and they worked for about a week. Either he has figured out a way to circumvent them (he swears he hasn't) or there is some bug.
This has been a issue for a very long time according to some other threads I have seen. I wish Apple would do something about it or at least respond. The Parental Controls were a big reason we made my son buy a Mac and not a PC.

Similar Messages

Parental Controls time limit ends too soon

For Time Limits in Parental Controls, how does OS X decide when the account is in use?
I setup a managed account for my son on a MacBook Pro running 10.6.8.
It is set to 3 hour limit on weekdays.
Problem is that sometimes the timer gives its usual 15-minute warning after less than one hour of use.
Sometimes I do a fast user switch to my admin account. Later that day he does fast user switch back to his account.
Does the time in my account after fast user switch pause his timer?
I hope the timer can be paused without completely logging out of the account.
Thank you.

in the parental controlled account click on the time in the menu bar and it will show time remaining in the pull down menu.

How do i reset my mac completely? I have parental controls and cant seem to get to time machine cause i bought the computer with parental controls on it and they did not have the password. How do i completely reset my macbook pro?

how do i reset my mac completely? I have parental controls and cant seem to get to time machine cause i bought the computer with parental controls on it and they did not have the password. How do i completely reset my macbook pro?

If you have a rescue email address (which is not the same thing as an alternate email address) on your account then the steps on this page will give you a reset link on your account : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6170
If you don't have a rescue email address (you won't be able to add one until you can answer your questions) then you will need to contact Support in your country to get the questions reset.
Contacting Apple about account security : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5699
When they've been reset (and if you don't already have a rescue email address) you can then use the steps on this page to add a rescue email address for potential future use : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5620
Or, if it's available in your country, you could change to 2-step verification : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5570

Parental Controls time limitation problem

Is there anything I could to to force Parental Controls time limitations to work? I've set time limit for my son's account to 1 hour per day, weekends the same, bedtime (school nights 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM and weekend 10 PM to 12 PM). In reality computer doesn't log out my son from his account and he can play endlessly.
I have clean MacOS X Lion setup, no old settings were restored. Update 10.7.2 came out but didn't solve anything. Snow Leopard worked flawlessly. Lion has bunch of problems which I cannot solve and figure out... (still have wifi problems, etc.) But at least if Icould get time limitation to work...
Mac mini 2010 model (2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM).

Yes, the parental controls are enabled, but now.. it works. Thanks anyway for you reply
Regards.
Andrea

Parental Controls Time Limits circumvented after upgrading to 10.6.5

Sometime after upgrading to Mac OS 10.6.5, my son discovered a way to circumvent some of the time limits in Parental Controls.
Here is the procedure: If I have allotted him 30 minutes, before his allotted time runs out, all he has to do is return to the Login Window (by any means) and then log in again. Doing this resets the time he has used up back to zero, meaning he gets another 30 minutes of computer use upon logging in (or whatever amount of time he was originally allotted). If he lets his time completely run out, the hack doesn't work.
This didn't seem to be possible in Mac OS 10.6.4, but I don't know at what point my son discovered this hack. He likely discovered the hack by logging out to conserve his allotted time while he went to the bathroom, and upon logging back in, was treated with this lovely bonus.
Not only would it be nice to have this security hole plugged, it would be nice to be able to check how much time is left (like, perhaps a countdown timer in the menu bar while my son is logged in) instead of having to wait for the pop up windows that gives 15-, 10-, and 5-minute warnings.

Makes perfect sense to me that ending one session by logging out enables him to begin a new session by logging back in. I give the young man credit for figuring out how to get around this deficiency in Parental Controls, as, deep down, I'm sure you do, too.
If you can't trust him to stick to his agreed upon half an hour a day, you can always (threaten to) lock him out of the computer for 23.5 hrs/day using the Bedtime settings. ; )

Blue screen after Parental Control times out

I upgraded our two-month-old iMac to 10.5.1 yesterday expressly so we could limit our kids' time on the computer. Now, when their account times out the screen goes all blue and there's no log-in screen. The only way to get a log in screen is to shut down and restart. And no, we don't have application enhancer. Already checked that. Anybody else experiencing this?
(The wife is also complaining because all her applications--especially Mail-- are running much slower since upgrading. Now I'm just another Mac fanatic with egg on my face...sigh)

I just logged into this discussion looking for the same issue and am experiencing it as well. When you click cancel at the extend time popup you often get the blue screen and a spinning icon in the middle of the screen. My only recovery has been to shutdown and restart.
I have a older iMac 1.8 ppc 20" and leopard. I also had a bad slowness issue and have since archived and re-installed. After doing that, my speed returned and it is MUCH faster now.. You may just try that.
I'd also like to post a related question that I have (hopefully someone at Apple may see this post), In regards to the Parental Controls. If I want to set a 3 hour daily max time, when that time is up, it seems to just return the to the sign on screen but DOES NOT actually log the user out. Im not sure if that is possible under 10.5.1 but it would be nice if it was. Or at least the option to set it at the user level to actually log them out. Has anyone else experienced this or have a suggestion?
thx

Mac OS 10.6.8 Parental Controls interfere with Firefox by preventing access to websites and plug ins

Mac OS 10.6.8 iMac, running FireFox 15 in grade school computer lab. When Parental controls are enabled in system preferences Firefox does not work properly. Can't use Google to search from the search bar at the top, can't access plug ins, there are even a few websites that can't be used. An example is digitalpassport.org from Common Sense media. Students can't access to log into their accounts. Parental Controls have been running on these macs for over a year with no issues. I thought it was the latest Firefox version giving us a problem but I updated to Firefox 16 today and the problem persists. If I turn off parental controls, Firefox works perfectly. I was not previously limiting applications, just blocking youtube and facebook. I tried limiting applications and then allowing all of them but that didn't help. What am I missing? Also, I can't access Mozilla support pages either when Parental Controls are enabled.

Check the PLUGIN UPDATES! Shockwave and Java were outdated and needed re-installation on mine! Took a couple of efforts with restarts but it is obvious that it solved my problems! Firefox Mozilla Toolbar 'Help' > 'Firefox Help' > lower right side of page displays link to Plugin Update review....

Parental controls/time restrictions on iPhone

I can safely say that my daughter's iPhone has ruined our lives. We've had it for five days. Yes, there are some built-in parental controls, but Apple has blocked anybody from offering a software program that will turn the dang thing off (I'm talking about texting and calling) at a certain time every night. I have a daughter who is addicted to her phone and the battles are humongous to get her to do anything but text.
There are plenty of good programs with good parental controls for the Android and Blackberry, but thanks Apple for not allowing us as parents to turn the phone off at night. I know about Mobicip, which is a great company, but they can only turn the internet off, not texting or calling. When you have a kid who can and will text 5,000 texts a month, we need something that eliminates the battles at home and can automatically turn the thing off when it's bedtime. We're all losing sleep. Most parents, when they get an iPhone for their kid, don't realize that Apple, unlike Android, has chosen to place more importance on children's privacy than parent's ability to place restrictions on their kids' phones. I plan to take the iPhone back and get her an Android.

The carrier doesn't have to "touch iPhone SMS or calling features. THEY SHUT THEM DOWN at thier end.
http://www.att.net/smartcontrols-SmartLimitsForWireless
Have you even bothered to look to see what AT&T offers? Apparently NOT. You can effectively shut her down on any schedule you like.
Restrict the times it can be used for messaging, browsing and outbound calling.
That means no SMS, no iMessage, and no calling her friends. It doesn't block incoming calls, but messages will be blocked.
Afraid she'll hop on your WiFi and use that instead? Then lock her out of it. You can even do it on a schedule if you have a half way decent router and a few ounces of technical understanding.
FEATURES
ENHANCED FEATURE: Block incoming and outgoing calls and text messages - now up to 30 numbers.
NEW FEATURE: Block calls to 411 Directory Assistance (including 555-1212).
Restrict times of day the phone can be used for messaging, browsing and outbound calling.
Set limits for the number of text and instant messages allowed per billing cycle.
Choose a dollar limit for downloadable purchases (ringtones, games and more).
Select the amount of web browsing/data usage allowed per billing cycle.
Restrict access to inappropriate content with content filters.
COST
$4.99/month per line
OTHER
Calls and text messages to and from phone numbers you designate as “Allowed Numbers” and calls to and from 911 will continue to be permitted regardless of the limits you set.
As your child approaches the text and download limits, he/she will receive an advance warning. Once a limit is reached, there will be a notification that the action is restricted and that the service will be stopped until the next billing cycle begins.
Please Note Important Limitations:

How can I turn off notifications for parental control time limits?

Tears of frustration from my two boys every night as their parentally controlled hour of Minecraft is spoiled by the countdown warnings which HAVE to be clicked - amounting to fatal hesitation in their game in progress.
Can these time notifications be made passive - or turned off completely?
Ideas for a workaround?

i dont know about whatsapp or other 3rd party apps 0 they may have setting options to do what you want - but for text messages and Facebook posts you can go to Settings/Sounds and set the sound for those 2 things to None

Parental Controls: Times

I've set the Parental Controls for the Guest User on the computer. The times are set to not allow the user to access the computer between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 a.m. during the week. When I log out of the administrator account the Guest user account says the guest can log in at 12 a.m. Why? It should be 9 a.m.
Second issue has been the time of usage has not been met yet the account bounces the guest out if trying to log in. The guest accessed the account for approximately 10 minutes. The account is set to allow the user to use the account for up to three hours but it does not permit access until 12 a.m. tomorrow.

I agree, there is an issue here. I setup my son to be able to use the computer for one hour a day between 6AM and 8PM. The first day it worked great - gave him several warnings and then logged him off. The next day, he was on for nearly two hours - with no warnings (at least he was honest). When he decided to come to dinner, he locked the computer and it said that he could log in again at 12AM. That was wierd. We have never shut down the computer - just locked it and put it in sleep mode. I plan to test this sometime and see if a restart will clear it.
I also noticed that when you click to switch users (in the menu), there are sometimes icons that indicate if the user can or can't login. These do not update unless you actually go to the login screen. For example, I login as administrator at 7:50PM and click the Switch user and the name have no icons. At 8:10PM when I click the Switch User, the names still have no "locked out" icon. When I lock the computer and relogin, the Switch User menu now has the locked out icons (red bars). I don't think the Switch User menu is getting updated when the restricted time goes by (i.e., 8:00PM).
...Kerry

Parental Controls Time Limits Problem

I've set the time limits parameters for my two kids so they don't spend all their time on the computer (they watch the TV instead ... sigh.
One of them is fine and says they can log in at 07:00 (not teenagers just yet), but the other says they can log in at 00:00 even though the settings are the same in Parental Controls.
A coupe of days ago, it was the other way around. I repaired permissions and rebooted which seemed to work then, but it hasn't done this time.
My iMac time is correct. Anyone got any ideas?

Are you referring to the situation where all the time has been used up for a particular day? It will say user cannot login until midnight, which is I think the way it refers to cannot login until tomorrow, and the correct login time will appear once it is tomorrow.
This is how it behaves on both of mine.

Parental control time

Hi,
I just brought the MacBook Pro with OS Lion 10.7.1. I have this problem below. Can you help asap? Thanks.
Time Limits seem broken in Lion.
When a time limit is applied the remaining time depletes at about 3x of reality.
Also randomly the remaining time display garbage that looks like this:
0:-5

dunnbj wrote:
I have been asking to this type of control for two years. I'm glad someone else sees the value. COX had this feature years ago. Does next few months mean prior to April 2011?
I would hope all the kinks are being worked out prior to release, but it is being tested by I believe over a hundred customers that had registered for the "1.9 Sneak Peek". Perhaps very soon, but I do not think there will be a specific date. Once it is released it will need to be sent out to customers following some sort of schedule. It is never done all at once. If you have not looked at the Blog, you may wish to look at it. There are many things in the next release, and some are not listed in the blog. Take a look.
http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-TV-IMG-1-9-Release-Notes-and-Opportunity-to-Get-a-...

Can I get the applications to close when the profile automatically logs out due to parental control time limits?

When time limit runs out on profiles set up for kids, all programs they are running remain open in the background even though their profile logs out. It causes other profiles to operate slowly. I have to log back into their profiles and manually close everything. Is there an option to have those programs force quit when their time runs out?

Hi - it still did not contain a precise response to my problem. But then I wandered around some more in the Tools option and found "always show the tab bar". I unchecked that, and it seems that for now all the tabs are gone. Shall have to see if they return on restarting or rebooting. If so, will post back. Thanks.

Is there a way through parental controls to limit time by weekly totals?

OK, so I am trying to limit time on the computer by hours per week instead of a daily total. is there any way that anyone knows how to do this?
For example, I would like to limit computer use to 3 hours total per week.
That being said, I would like to 3 hours to be able to be used whenever.
It could be monday morning for 3 hours, or friday for 3 hours.
Or monday 1 hour, tuesday 1 hour, and wednesday 1 hour.
however the user wants to spend their 3 hours.
Anyone have any ideas?

The sponsor is not happy for low res printing either. As an organisation we should be looking at DRM more closely, and we've added to the requirement with this problem. We are also going to look in to the option of attaching metadata and scanning that at our exit points (e-mail, printers, usb's, etc.) so that users have free reign internally but can't send sensitive documents out. Obviously it's all going to be very expensive!
Cheers for the respones guys.

Set up parental controls to limit hours

I would like to "turn off" wifi access for certain devices at certain hours. For example, I want my son's laptop to not get internet service after 11 pm on school nights. The network goes through the AirPort Time Capsule, so my service provider said I need to do it through this device, not through the modem they provided.

Correct. Use Timed Access Control:
AirPort Utility 6.x: Control access to your wireless network
Open AirPort Utility, located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, select the device you want to set up, and then click Edit.
Click Network, select Enable Access Control, and then click the Timed Access Control... button.
Click Add + and enter the MAC address and description or name of the computers you are allowing to access the network. (edit: you can use this site: How to Find Your Mac's MAC Address)
Click Add + (beneath the Wireless Access Times field), and choose a value from the pop-up menus. Choose a day of the week or every day from the day pop-up menu, and then choose either “all day” or “between” from the other pop-up menu. If you choose “between,” you can edit the times of the day by double-clicking in the time fields.
Save and then Update to allow the Time Capsult to reset and implement the changes.

Mac OS 10.6.7 Parental Control Time Limit Bug

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for