Stuck in root user account

Hi all.
      I just logged in to the root folder to edit my home folder short name. I am now in the root account, however the trackpad clicking is not responding and neither is the touchpad gesture. When i try to log out of root through keyboard shortcut commands, i find that the keyboard is not responding to my commands either. At the same time, I am unable to connect an external mouse to see if it was just my trackpad not responding, because I am backing up my EHD through time machine which takes up both my usb ports. Before I went into the root account, the mouse and keyboard was working completely fine.
     Now my mac is just sitting there with the Mac OS X setup Assistant open, not responding to anything; when i move my finger on the trackpad though the pointer responds, meaning the mac is not frozen or anything. Any ideas how i could get out of such a situation?
     It is a macbook pro running lion 10.7, which is all the specs i know off the top of my head

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mh35611.html
This is what i could find in Apple support.
Hope it helps.

Similar Messages

Can I enable the root user account from the log in screen when I am locked out of the machine?

Hello everyone,
I am working on my friends mac to get it ready to sell. I went into the advanced options of the user and changed the name of the account. That's all I changed. I did read the warning that said if anything was changed it could cause damage, that's why I only changed the name of the user account. I didn't want to mess with anything else. Well, needless to say, I am locked out of the machine. Apparently the root user, system administrator, account was not enabled and I am stuck at the screen that I can get to with my installation disc. So how can I enable the root user account and get back onto the machine from the screen I am at? Can I enable the root user from terminal? I spent a good 8 hours yesterday researching this topic and have come up empty. Changing passwords from commands in terminal is not the problem. I am given just one account to choose from to log on and it's not accepting the password because of the changes I made in the advanced options menu.
Is there any hope of getting this thing going again? Or have I just screwed myself over?
Thanks for your help!
Leah

You can reset the password.
http://pondini.org/OSX/Password.html
Do you need to recover data from it before you sell it? If not you can just wipe the disk and prepare it for sale.
See > Apple What to do before selling or giving away your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Also See Thomas Reed's How to Prepare your Mac for sale
http://www.thesafemac.com/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-sale/
and this thread
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5474062?tstart=0

Setting previleges to a non-root user account to access ports

Hello ,
I am tring to do an icmp-ping to a machine in the network from an application by connecting to icmp port through a raw socket.
My question is i am able to connect to icmp port using raw socket only in root user account. But my application should run under a non root user account and do the ping for me.
1)How do i set previleges to a particular user to access icmp port?
I am running the application on solaris 9
2)I read a paper on net saying ports from 0 to 1024 can only be accessed by a root user account?
Why is this and what can be done for a non-root user account to access these ports.
3) Is this possible in solaris 9.
Thanks in Advance,
cheers,
pal

There is only one solution: create a new Standard user account and set it as your auto login account, if you use that feature.
Using what you describe is mostly a false sense of security. Were someone to hack into the computer they could hack into the standard account, so you would not wish to keep any sensitive data in that account. Other things to consider:
Turn on your Firewall in Security & Privacy preference panel.
Use software to mask your online presence such as ProxyCap 2.03, MacProxy, Proxifier, or Hotspot Shield.

There is a non-root user account

I got the warning "there is a non-root user account with the UID 0 in your system" on installing some software and on running in the terminal... dscl . -list /Users UniqueID , there are indeed 2 users with UID 0, root and me who is admin too. Also cannot log in to keychain - related?

does this help?
Problem description:
there is a non-root user account with the UID 0 in your system
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated 16 March 2015 5:27:55 pm AEST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
    iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) (Verified)
    iMac - model: iMac7,1
    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
    4 GB RAM Upgradeable
        BANK 0/DIMM0
            2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok
        BANK 1/DIMM1
            2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok
    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
    Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
    ATI,RadeonHD2600 - VRAM: 256 MB
        iMac 1680 x 1050
System Software: ℹ️
    OS X 10.10.2 (14C1510) - Time since boot: 2:2:38
Disk Information: ℹ️
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        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 284.97 GB (77.06 GB free)
        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
        BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP : 34.25 GB (8.40 GB free)
USB Information: ℹ️
    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
    Lexar USB Flash Drive 16.02 GB
        Lexar (disk2s1) /Volumes/Lexar : 16.01 GB (5.72 GB free)
    Logitech Optical USB Mouse
    Iomega USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge 1 TB
        EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
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    Microsoft Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop® 1.00
    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Configuration files: ℹ️
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    /etc/hosts - Count: 30
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
    Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
        /Applications/Parallels Desktop.app
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        /Library/Extensions
    [loaded]    com.sophos.kext.sav (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.sophos.nke.swi (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
        /System/Library/Extensions
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    [not loaded]    com.cisco.nke.ipsec (2.0.1) [Click for support]
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Startup Items: ℹ️
    CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN
    ChmodBPF: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ChmodBPF
    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite
Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️
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    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.icloud.fmfd.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.Maps.pushdaemon.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.recentsd.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist
    8 processes killed due to memory pressure
Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️
    [killed]    com.apple.awdd.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.ctkd.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.softwareupdated.plist
    [killed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist
    [failed]    org.postfix.master.plist [Click for details]
    5 processes killed due to memory pressure
Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    com.protemac.LoginTrapAgentLoginSession.plist [Click for support]
    [failed]    com.protemac.LoginTrapAgentUserSession.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]
    [running]    com.sophos.uiserver.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
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    [loaded]    com.barebones.authd.plist [Click for support]
    [failed]    com.google.GoogleML.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [failed]    fm.last.lastfmhelper.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]
    [loaded]    uk.co.markallan.clamxav.freshclam.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
    Garmin Express Service    UNKNOWN (missing value)
    Mail    Application (/Applications/Mail.app)
    ClamXav Sentry    UNKNOWN (missing value)
    ClamXav Sentry    UNKNOWN (missing value)
    Dropbox    Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
    ClamXav Sentry    Application (/Applications/ClamXav (506).app/Contents/Resources/ClamXav Sentry.app)
    ClamXav Sentry    Application (/Applications/ClamXav (506).app/Contents/Resources/ClamXav Sentry.app)
    Activity Monitor    Application (/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app)
    ClamXav Sentry    Application (/Applications/ClamXav (506).app/Contents/Resources/ClamXav Sentry.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 [Click for support]
    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Click for support]
    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 1.3 [Click for support]
    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
    NP_2020Player_IKEA: Version: 5.0.94.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.2.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]
    JoostPlugin: Version: 0.13.3 [Click for support]
    ContentUploaderPlugin: Version: 1.2 [Click for support]
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version
User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Click for support]
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
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    Open in Internet Explorer
    Auto Refresh
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3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
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    Java [Click for support]
    MacFUSE [Click for support]
    Perian [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
    Skip System Files: NO
    Mobile backups: OFF
    Auto backup: YES
    Volumes being backed up:
        PowerBook Backup: Disk size: 107.37 GB Disk used: 25.95 GB
        FREE SPACE: Disk size: 355.48 GB Disk used: 10.13 GB
        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 284.97 GB Disk used: 207.90 GB
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        iMac Backup [Local]
        Total size: 536.87 GB
        Total number of backups: 194
        Oldest backup: 2011-03-06 01:10:38 +0000
        Last backup: 2015-03-16 06:51:32 +0000
        Size of backup disk: Too small
            Backup size 536.87 GB < (Disk used 243.99 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
         9%    mds
         7%    mds_stores
         3%    WindowServer
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Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
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    258 MB    Image Capture Extension
    176 MB    SophosScanD
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Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
    70 MB    Free RAM
    1.59 GB    Active RAM
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    513 MB    Wired RAM
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Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
    Mar 16, 2015, 04:16:48 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/InterCheck_2015-03-16-161648_[redacted].cpu_res ource.diag [Click for details]
    Mar 16, 2015, 03:20:40 PM    Self test - passed
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    Feb 27, 2015, 06:25:50 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2015-02-27-182550_[redacted].panic [Click for details]

How to Remove "Root" User Account

How do I remove or disable the "root" user account after fixing the login problem with Leopard?

No, when I enabled the root account in the command prompt for the Leopard password problem, now I have an account called "Other" in my User Select Screen.

I suddenly can't access the Root User Account

Things were working fine, then I used Disk Warrior to clean things up. Now when I enable Root User, I can't log it the account. I tried the change password and used the new PW and no joy.
I use Root when I am working on user directories and have never seen this before.
Any help or ideas would be appreciated,
DN~

silly me.

Setup Stuck At Creating User Account Screen

I created a Mavericks USB flash drive and booted from it, wiped the hard drive and am doing a fresh install. Everything goes fine until I set up the first user account. Once I click "Continue" it just hangs there.
I've tried this three times now. Second attempt I rebooted and it recovered to that screen, but it made me enter different information because the original acount had been created, but it never got past the "creating..." screen.
The third attempt I reformatted and reinstalled the OS, but still got stuck at that screen.
Any ideas?

groberts1980 wrote:
I created a Mavericks USB flash drive and booted from it, wiped the hard drive and am doing a fresh install. Everything goes fine until I set up the first user account. Once I click "Continue" it just hangs there.
I've tried this three times now. Second attempt I rebooted and it recovered to that screen, but it made me enter different information because the original acount had been created, but it never got past the "creating..." screen.
The third attempt I reformatted and reinstalled the OS, but still got stuck at that screen.
Any ideas?
How did you reformat again after getting hung up on the "Creating Account"? I could never get back to the (or a) screen to reformat... I just took that advice and created yet another account and bypassed the login, etc. and then once at the desktop, I rebooted holding down Option/Alt so that I could start over. I even tried booting from my 'old faithful' GParted disc, but no joy, no matter what I did, I was presented with the Welcome screen for account setup.
I am currently installing Mavericks after my second reformat and will report back how it goes. I would have liked to been able to avoid going all the way through the setup just so that I could reboot into setup...
Gary

No root/user account.

Hi.
I just installed Arch through Opensuse 11 Gnome looking at the following link. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … ting_Linux
However, as you can see there is no option to add root password, or a user account in the guide.
Now i have an Arch system installed, but after booting in, when i see the CLI, it asks me to log in. But I have put in no account there. So what should I do?
How do i add a root account and another user account?
Maybe, my guess is, I should try through my opensuse system, right? since i installed arch through it in the first place?
Please help. This is my first time with Arch Linux.
Thanks a ton in advance.

http://www.archlinux.org/static/docs/ar … ml#userman
this link contains the same directions that i've used to create a user under arch. the above poster is also correct that you should have root regardless, but you may wish to setup a password on that account as well.

About it resource root user account

hello,
everyone
for oim it resource,such as an aix system, the account is usually root,but if passwd for root is changed,we must also change the password in it resource too.
I want to use a seperate account other than root to admin the it resource,how to do that?

http://www.archlinux.org/static/docs/ar … ml#userman
this link contains the same directions that i've used to create a user under arch. the above poster is also correct that you should have root regardless, but you may wish to setup a password on that account as well.

Running VMware Server 2 services as a non-root user

Hello,
I have switched from VirtualBox to VMware Server 2 on my Arch64 server and the transition has been relatively painless. I am at the point now where I want to run VMware's services as a non-root user account (I have a service account called "svc-vmadmin" that I'd like to use). I'm generally not comfortable running services as root, but at the same time I'm conscious of the time and effort required vs. overall benefits.
I've done the usual Google searches and even checked the VMware Server 2 user guide and the VMware community, but I can't find specific details on how to achieve this.
Is this even plausible in a Linux environment? I used to run VMware Server 1 under the SYSTEM account on Windows Server, so I'm hopinga similar thing can be done on Arch.
I would greatly appreciate any information or personal experience that fellow Archers can share.
Thanks,
Thom

System services are handled by launchd.
If you look in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ you'll see a plist file for each service including org.isc.named.plist, the plist for named.
If you edit this file you'll see it's an XML document that describes the service and how the OS should handle it, including the part:
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/sbin/named</string>
<string>-f</string>
</array>
Just append another entry in the array that says <string>-u nobody</string> (or whatever username you want to run as.

Cannot enable root user

When I set up my user account last year when I got this computer, I am pretty sure I remember a shortname being filled in or suggested to me, and it had an uppercase character for its first letter. So, my short name is "Name" -- except, you know, instead of "Name" it's my first name.
Anyway, I haven't had any issues until I installed 1Password. I'm having some trouble keeping it in sync, and ran a troubleshooting app as part of their guidance and I see that they say an issue is that my shortname contains an uppercase letter, when in fact it should be all lowercase.
I find mixed reviews online of whether all lowercase in the short name is still a thing—I've found a few places that say uppercase letters were allowed in 10.6.8, but others say that it should be all lowercase and I need to change my shortname.
I'd really rather not change it, but just to see how I would do it if I ended up having to, I checked out these instructions http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1428. I got hung up on enabling the root user, though, because I'm not able to select "Enable root user" from the edit menu. It's always grayed out.
I then found this Apple doc on enabling the root user in Mountain Lion: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11331?viewlocale=en_US but it's nothing different. "Enable root user" is still always grayed out in the edit menu.
So... Is there no way I can enable the root user? I'm running 10.8.

FWIW, enabling the root user account to change a user's shortname is taking a sledgehammer to put a tack in a wall to hang a picture. Better is to follow this:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3872.
I've not enabled the root user account since installing OS X in 2002 and I use the Terminal and the CLI routinely.

I cannot log into user account with old password after using migration assistant.

I used Migration Assistant to move only my Settings and Users from my Power PC (User name RLE 5) to my Mac Pro. Because of what I have read in these forums I did not migrate applications or and files/folders. I will do that manually. After migrating I tried logging in to my user account RLE 5 on my Mac Pro, but it is telling me I am using the wrong password. I used the same password I used on my Power PC, but with no luck. On my Mac Pro I went into System Preferences>Accounts>RLE 5 account and changed the password. I then rebooted and tried again. No luck.
Can somebody help me with this problem?
Thank you.

What you propose would not solve the problem I am having. I must not have been clear about it. So I will elaborate.
I have a Power PC with 10.5.8. The admin user account name is RLE 5. I need a password to log into my root user account on my Power PC.
Then I bought a used Mac Pro with a clean install of 10.7.5 and no password set up yet for my admin user account. The admin user account name is Mac Pro. When I turn on the computer it opens to my admin user account where I have access to everything.
I used Migrations Assistant to move my Settings and Users from my Power PC to my Mac Pro. That seemed to to successfully.
So I now have four users on my Mac Pro: RLE 5 (the admin user from my Power PC with the password), Mac Pro (my admin user which does not require a password), and two guest user accounts.
I turn on my Mac Pro and it opens to my Mac Pro admin user account. I don't need to sign in. No problem.
I log out of Mac Pro. On my screen are the four user accounts. I click on RLE 5 (which was my admin user account on my Power PC that I migrated over to my Mac Pro) to log into that account and it asks me for a password. I type in the password I used for my Power PC. It keeps telling me it is the incorrect password.
I cannot log into my user account RLE 5 on the Mac Pro. I am being told I have the incorrect password. I've gone to System Preferences>Accounts and changed the password. It doesn't make a difference.
Also I cannot log into the Guest User account that migrated from the Power PC to the Mac Pro for the same reason. I have also tried to change the password for that Guest User account also but with no luck.
Another interesting thing has happened. I decided to give my Mac Pro admin user account a password by going to System Preferences>Accounts. But when I do a test to sign into my admin user account Mac Pro it tells me it is the wrong password. Luckily I can reboot the computer and it opens to my Mac Pro user without asking for a password. But if I log out of Mac Pro and try to then sign back in with the password it tells me it is the incorrect password.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Several user account with ID=0

Hello I find I have a problem:
My OS X has several user accounts with the same ID, particularly with ID=0. This ID should belong to root user account only.
Terminal: dscl . -list /Users UniqueID
daemon                  1
diegopaniz              0
Guest                   201
KEKA                    501
nobody                  -2
root                    0
Someone know how to fix it?
TKS!!!
rickricardu

If you're using "diegopaniz," change the UID to something in the 500 range. Otherwise delete it. You seem to already know how to use dscl.

How to find my old user account?

When I upgraded to tiger I chose "Upgrade Mac OS X". I should have selected the Archive option so I could have preserved my settings. But I didn't.
So now all my setttings are not working - I can't get my mail through Entourage, my bookmarks are missing, etc.
I can see a folder containing my old username, but I can't figure out how to log into that name. My log in choices do not include it. My log in choice is restricted to root.
My question is: How do I log in under my old name?

My log in choice is restricted to root
Did you enable the root user account? If so, disable it and try again. I've never had your problem and have always used the upgrade earlier version option.
See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106290 for details.

My root user ate my admin. HELP!

I logged into my root user account to change my short name (away from bobfranklin) but when I disabled my root user and logged back into my normal account, all the stuff from the root user account popped up instead of my work. HOW CA

I logged into my root user account to change my short name (away from bobfranklin) but when I disabled my root user and logged back into my normal account, all the stuff from the root user account popped up instead of my work. HOW CA

Stuck in root user account

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