New Osx, Now What

H

hwyrovr

Registered
MAC crashed last week, resulting in huge expense for new hard drive and OSx installation. Now when we try to load software we get a DEMAND for a password (never had to do that in OS9). Don't have a passworkd, don't know where to get a password, why does it want a password to install a damned printer?

Any thoughts?

:mad:
 
the pass word is part of unix. it's this password that is needed to anything modifying the system that makes the mac the secure virus free environment we know and love. make your pass word shorter, as you will need it a lot.

your password is the same password you created when you created your account. if it's not your account, contact the administrator.
 
We did not "create an account". The thing crashed, died, crapped on us. We had to have a new hard drive installed, along with a new OS. "They" put in OSX. Now we have a machine we cannot work with because it keeps demanding a pasword, "they" said they did not create a password for the thing and we certainly didn't - and BTW, this MAC is the biggest piece of junk we have ever had to deal with! It has been a thorn in our butts for three years now, so, please, don't give me the "MAC we all know and love" line.
 
'Mac crashed last week, resulting in huge expense for new hard drive and OSx installation.', no it did not. There is not one recorded instance where an OS crash (System / MacOS X) that actually resulted in a physical hard disk drive failure. If you are claiming to be the first, I would be willing to accept the damaged hard disk drive for analysis - really!

'Now when we try to load software we get a demand for a password (never had to do that in OS9).', that is because you (and the others of 'we') are booting with MacOS X, and not System 9.x.

'Don't have a password', maybe you do not; but, someone does, '... don't know where to get a password', perhaps, from the person who performed the installation and filled in the respective setup entry fields?

'... why does it want a password to install a damned printer?', 'it' does not want a password to install a printer - since 'it' (an operating system) cannot physically install a printer. However, MacOS X is requesting an administrator's password to install the printer's driver (and / or additional files) into areas either protected by and / or maintained by the OS.

I too (as well as millions of other Mac'ers), do not like the 'Authentication' window appearing either - especially when logged in as an administrator. But, hey - who said that what Apple does is ...
 
Did you get the OS X DVD after you got your Mac back from "them"? If so, you can use that disc to reset the root password on the machine. Once you can get into the machine, you should create a user account for yourself.

Here is a link to a document that should help you get through all this.
How do I reset my Mac OS X Admin Root Password?
 
Lots of great SPIN, but it still doesn't help. "THEY" claim they did not set-upo any kind of a password.

How do you boot in OS9? And why would you have to if you have OSX?

Just exactly how weird is MAC? In my opinion, VERY!
 
hwyrovr said:
Lots of great SPIN, but it still doesn't help. "THEY" claim they did not set-upo any kind of a password.

How do you boot in OS9? And why would you have to if you have OSX?

Just exactly how weird is MAC? In my opinion, VERY!
Click to expand...
What are you talking about? Boot into OS 9? Did you read my post above where I gave you a link to the fix for your problem? Calm down and stop freaking out. Bashing Apple isn't goint to fix this for you, and it's not your computer's fault that this is happening. You're getting more worked up over this than you need to. There is a simple fix for this. Unless, of course, you don't have the Mac OS X software installation DVD. Now, you would have gotten that from "them" if you had purchased it as part of whatever repair process they did for you. If they just installed the OS for you without getting you a licensed copy, you might be out of luck, because you are using software that you didn't actually buy and don't actually own. Go to eBay, in that case, and buy a copy of OS X and do a reinstall, which is about the easiest thing you'll ever do with your Mac (insert the CD/DVD, reboot, hold down 'C' key during the boot process). You can find older versions of OS X (like 10.3 Panther) for cheaper than 10.4 Tiger.

If all else fails, it's always easy to go into an Apple store (if you have one near you, which you can find out on the Apple Web site) and talk to someone in there who can look at things for you. You won't have to pay them unless they do an install for you, and I wouldn't pay them for that anyway - just by the OS if you don't already have it.

The fact is, this is not a Mac OS X issue. This could just as easy be a Windows issue if you had "them" install that OS on a PC without providing you with the install discs, except that there is no way to reset the admin password on a Windows PC if you no longer have it. The discs won't help you at all. At least the OS X discs can help you out with this.
 
hwyrovr said:
Lots of great SPIN, but it still doesn't help.
Click to expand...
And by the way, I don't "spin" anything for any company, Apple, Microsoft, or anyone.

Who did this installation for you, anyway? I had forgotten to ask in my last post. Was it a friend, or someone in an Apple store, CompUSA, or other licensed vendor?
 
The SPIN comment was not directed at you. However, I did what you sugegsted and we never got a MENU with a UTILITIES icon. It just went ahead and completely re-installed OSX.

The replacement hard drive and OSx installation is a fully licensed version done with an Apple cerified tech at our local Office MAX. Nearest Apple store is in Las Vegas - and I'm not going to go through that!

Now, why in the heck shouldn't I be upset about this? We pay an arm and a leg for this piece of crap (from an Apple store) who has never given us one bit of support. We had an Apple certified tech do the work on the thing and we can't even load a damned printer on it! I bought a new HP a few weeks ago and had not one bit of trouble loading any software or peripherials on it - why is it that MAC makes it so damned difficult to do a simple thing like add a printer? Yes, I am upset. We are a small press publisher forced into a MAC by our printer - and now we are a week late getting a magazine out and after nearly a grand in repair costs, we still can't get the job done!
 
Try just leaving the field blank. Their might not be a password. Whenever it asks me for a password i just press enter. It demands for one even if there isn't one. Just press enter and see what happens.
 
When you reinstalled OS X, weren't you prompted at that point to create a user name and password combination?
 
"When you reinstalled OS X, weren't you prompted at that point to create a user name and password combination?"

No, we were not. It went through the installation process - which took about twenty minutes, then dumped into RESTART and that was that!

Tried again to load a printer and again it demanded a password. AND NO ONE WILL ADMIT TO PUTTING A PASSWORD ON THE SYSTEM AT THE STORE and we can't find any hint of what it might be.

Stupid, stupid system!
 
I think you are blaming the wrong thing here. It's not the system, it seems to be the people who worked on your machine.

So here is what you can try. When you do an install, it should ask you to wipe the disk and do a complete, fresh install. It sounds like you did a reinstall similar to on a Windows system where you would insert the CD and let the install process go through its paces without formatting the hard drive first. It replaces all the system files, and repairs any that are damaged, but leaves everything else in place. I believe that the Mac OS X installation DVD will do something similar.

Look for something in the installer that will allow you to format the disk first, before it installs OS X. Choose to format the disk as "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)". After the format, you can reinstall the OS and start from scratch. You'll be asked to create a username and password and everything should come out fine.
 
The install did not ask us anything - the disk was put in the tray and the install started, no questions were asked about cleaning, fomratting, or anything else, it just ran, did an auto-RESTART and we were back at square one.

Why in the hell does this thing demand a password for a simple task like putting in a printer? There is no reason on earth for such a thing!

My partner wants to buy a new machine and I am adament. We will find a new printing company that works on PC format before I'll invest in another of these things!
 
'"They" claim they did not set-up any kind of a password.' - as Phuxy stated - a password is not needed in any presented 'Authentication' window, if when an account (which must be created) is created, and no password name is entered.

'How do you boot in OS9?', many boot into System 9.2.x via the 'System Preferences, Startup Disk' utility, booting with the <option> key pressed (and selecting either a 'System 9.x' bootable partition or inserted media), or booting with the 'C' key pressed and selecting a 'System 9.x' inserted media. Note: System 9.2.2 is not part of the MacOS X installation, and must be installed manually.

'And why would you have to if you have OSX?', if this is not rhetorical - a number of pre-MacOS X applications simply will not open (run, launch, boot), or run properly, via 'Classic' (a crippled version of 'System 9.2.x') - but, will via a 'System 9.2.x' boot.

-----

What is with all the capitals? (rhetorical), they only prove you know where the <caps lock> key is.

-----

'Now, why in the heck shouldn't I be upset about this? We pay an arm and a leg for this piece of crap (from an Apple store) who has never given us one bit of support. We had an Apple certified tech do the work on the thing and we can't even load a damned printer on it!' - well, so far - you have yet to identify the Mac model; whether or not it originally was purchased with only System 9.2.2 or earlier installed; and, nor did you provide the version of MacOS X installed. So far you stated ...

'We did not "create an account". The thing crashed, died, crapped on us. We had to have a new hard drive installed, along with a new OS. "They" put in OSX. Now we have a machine we cannot work with because it keeps demanding a pasword, "they" said they did not create a password for the thing and we certainly didn't - and by the way, this Mac is the biggest piece of junk we have ever had to deal with! It has been a thorn in our butts for three years now, so, please, don't give me the "Mac we all know and love" line.'

Regardless of what was stated - your Mac (booted with MacOS X) will not operate without an account; so again, regardless of whether you or one of the 'we' did not create an account, someone did. Whether or not, a password was created for said account.
If prior to the hard disk drive failure (and replacement) - only System 9.2.2 or earlier was installed - only then could 'We did not "create an account" be understood. However, none of your previous posts stated such clearly - if implied.
If prior to the hard disk drive failure (and replacement) you did not have MacOS X installed, and only System 9.2.2 or earlier, and then the Office Max technician did install MacOS X (without you, or someone else in the 'we', as an owner of a copy of the MacOS X installation discs) - then it was a mistake on his part. If this is what happened - return to Office Max, with the System 9.2.2 or earlier installation and support discs (all of them) and insist that it is to be installed - not MacOS X 10.?.

And stating 'and by the way, this Mac is the biggest piece of junk we have ever had to deal with! It has been a thorn in our butts for three years now, so, please, don't give me the "Mac we all know and love" line.'' - only now provides a little history (the approx. age) of the Mac. As for the balance of the statement - you are entitled to you opinions; yet, doing such as you have - may limit the number of further responses - to this, and possibly any future posts.

So, if you can and will - please provide the following information:
Mac model.
System version installed on Mac, prior to hard disk drive failure and replacement.
Printer manufacturer and model number.
 
From http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156:

Start up from a Mac OS X Install CD (one whose version is closest the the version of Mac OS X installed). You should first disable Open Firmware password protection, if it is enabled. Hold the C key as the computer starts.
Choose Reset Password from the Installer menu (or Utilities menu in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger). Tip: If you don't see this menu or menu choice, you're probably not started from the CD yet.
Select your Mac OS X hard disk volume.
Set the user name of your original administrator account.
Important: Do not select "System Administrator (root)". This is actually a reference to the root user. Do not confuse it with a normal administrator account.


Enter a new password.
Click Save.
 
Tried again - disk in, hold down C, and installation ran without giving us any opportuity to do anything other than "ACCEPT" & "CONTINUE". System did a RESTART on it's own and we are no further ahead then before.

I can tell you guys are fed up with this and me (but not nearly as much as I am with MAC). We will most likely take it out for a little target practice tomorrow, then buy a new PC and get on with life. It is way too short to deal with this kind of nonsense.

Thanks for your time.
 
Err.... I know rage is fun, but why not either take the machine to the store that did the install for you and have them help you, or call Apple tech support, who will be very happy to walk you through the process?

I am not a gun afficionado myself - in fact personal gun ownership is very restricted in my country - but surely a cheaper target than a working (?) computer is available? :D
 
When you start from your CD while pressing the "C" key,
at the first window, where it says "Continue",
look to the top of your monitor, is there not a menu-bar there with "Utilities" listed as an option?
 
When we put in CD and press C key all we have is a gray screen - no menu bars above.

As a side note - there is nothing as satisfying as blasting the heck out of a recalcitrant piece of computer hardware - CPU's, monitors, printers, scanners, it doesn't matter - when they give up the ghost, it feels great to unload a few clips of 40 S&W rounds into them. And to call this boat anchor we are dealing with a "working computer" is ridiculous. BTW - Apple Tech Support was ZERO help, that is why I came here!
 
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