Keychain - how to customize

[porteous]

I am finding it increasingly annoying that every time I use OSX I am prompted for my keychain password. Now, I wouldn't mind, but it isn't as if I'm running a network here, or have any major security issues.

It was something that happened occasionally with OSX 10.1 and Jaguar, but now with Panther it's every time I log on - and it's becoming very tiresome.

How can I turn it off?

Can I train my Mac to know that if I'm logged in as me, I really am me?

Incidentally, the same thing happens with Mail.app, but less frequently - but for each of the mail accounts and at variable intervals. It's not consistent - and is equally frustrating. Does anyone know why?

[bobw]

This is from the Help Menu;

When your keychain is locked, you see a message when an application wants access to a password in your keychain.

Your default keychain, which has the same password as your Mac OS X user account, is unlocked for you when you log in. If your computer has been idle for a while, your keychain may lock automatically.

You can adjust the amount of time your computer remains idle before your keychain is locked.

Open Keychain Access and choose Edit > "Change Settings for Keychain 'login'."

Locking and unlocking your keychain

Open Keychain Access, located in Applications/Utilities.
Click Show Keychains if the keychain drawer is not open.
Select a keychain, and click Lock or Unlock.
If you clicked Unlock, type your keychain password.

Just open your Help Menu and type Keychain to learn about it.

[DeltaMac]

It's possible that your keychain is now locked. A locked keychain will always ask for access. You could open the Keychain Access, click on your keychain, and click on the unlock icon in the toolbar, Access will ask for your keychain password, and then you will be unlocked. You can also go to the Window menu in Keychain Access, and choose Keychain Repair, which can find and repair possible problems with the keychain itself.

It's also possible that you may some mildly corrupted cache files on your system, which can be deleted with one of the various utilities that do this, such as OnyX, MacJanitor, Maintain1, or others that can be found at versiontracker.com

try the keychain repair first, along with making sure the keychain is unlocked, which may take care of your problem.

[dagaz]

Originally Posted by porteous

I am finding it increasingly annoying that every time I use OSX I am prompted for my keychain password. Now, I wouldn't mind, but it isn't as if I'm running a network here, or have any major security issues.

It was something that happened occasionally with OSX 10.1 and Jaguar, but now with Panther it's every time I log on - and it's becoming very tiresome.

How can I turn it off?

Can I train my Mac to know that if I'm logged in as me, I really am me?

Incidentally, the same thing happens with Mail.app, but less frequently - but for each of the mail accounts and at variable intervals. It's not consistent - and is equally frustrating. Does anyone know why?

If you're running 10.2 (I'm not sure about other versions) Apple has a good little utility called Keychain First Aid which will fix any issues with your keychain (as the name suggests). Its a free download, I can't remember now if I downloaded it from the downloads page or the support page, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't show up in software update. You might have to do a search for it.

[bobw]

Keychain First Aid

[DeltaMac]

Porteous said he's running Panther, so Keychain First Aid is included with the Keychain Access utility (Doesn't fix 'all' issues with a keychain, but it fixes what its designed to fix, which may help here)

[porteous]

Thanks guys - I think that's sorted it.