OS 10.6.

I had to install S/L again and when I tried to update to 10.6.8 I was asked for my administrators name which is me, but it was not accepted. I went to S/Ps>acc and there was my name just as I typed it. The word standard is underneath. My password is correct. What to do now?
I am now on E/L because everything is wrong on S/L

I could not do anything without being asked for the admin name. I have no trouble with the name and password now. I cannot update to 10.6.8 unless I provide the name etc.

The clock is also wrong which I can't change. Will some one please help me out?


jaybass

Please pardon my confusion but I have some questions...

1. Am I correct in assuming that when you say E/L you mean OS X 10.5? (what does the "E" stand for?)
2. When you say "The clock is also wrong which I can't change" is that in S/L, E/L or both?
   1. What is the specific model of you Mac (ie. PowerMac6,1 or whatever)
   2. Does it have a backup battery?
   3. Have you ever changed the backup battery and if so when?
3. When you say, "I could not do anything without being asked for the admin name" were you logged on in the admin account at the time or to another non-admin account?
4. When you say "I have no trouble with the name and password now" am I correct in assuming that
   1. this is in Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6)
   2. you have autologon set and never enter either the user name or password and everything works until you attempt an action that requires you to enter an administrative password?
   3. You have a password set and not a null password?
   4. You have not tried anything else that requires a password such as logging out and logging back in — not a restart?

Where to begin! E/L should read S/L...sorry. The clock and everything else needs the admin name and password in S/L only. The model identifier is iMac9,1

No backup battery.

I was logged in to the admin acc. When I said I have no trouble with the name & password now, I meant that was because i was in E/C as I am in now. The problem is only S/L. Autologon set, yes. Any attempt to do anything requires name & password.
The admin name & password for S/L & E/C is the same but I 'm being told that it is incorrect in S/L. In S/Ps>acc, the admin name is as I say & my password I've had for years.

Not tried logging in or out

I think all of this may have started when I ran permisssions in S/L and it said that the coreservices folder was damaged and could not be repaired and that is why I installed S/L over the existing HD thinking it would renew it. It didn't. Then I tried to copy the S/L backup to my HD using super duper but it would not allow it.

Quite a mess.

jaybass

The clock set issue was reminiscent of a failed backup battery in earlier Macs, but as you say, your iMac does not have a backup battery and the issue only effects Snow Leopard. That, of course, could be the result of a damaged coreservices. If you have another administrative account in Snow Leopard you might try logging into it and resetting the password for your regular account. (A good reason for having a "Test" account with administrative privileges.)

1. A problem with clones is you can sometimes clone the problem and then you backup is no good. (Which is why I am so big on Time Machine)
2. Are you certain that your Snow Leopard Backup is good? — Can you boot and run from it?
3. When you tried to clone the Snow Leopard backup to your hard drive using Super Duper were you booted from the hard drive or the backup? You would have to be booted from a boot volume other than the one you are cloning to and that could be the bootable backup.
4. You may have to erase the HD, or at least the Snow Leopard volume/partition if there is one, before cloning the backup to it.

In the past you have very saliently laid out your reasons for sticking with a seven year old version of OS X for your vintage or obsolete iMac9,1 (depending on which specific iMac9,1 you have — one is vintage and the other obsolete) and I am not arguing with that, but it may be time for you to move on to a newer Mac that runs a supported OS version.

Just looking at this as a third party, I would ask one more question.....

How many accounts are there on this installation of Snow Leopard? It sounds very much to me like jaybass is is logged into a STANDARD ACCOUNT without administrator privileges.

Already asked,

but not answered

My S/L backup is ok but when I try to boot up from it. the screen turns blackish with a message saying "you need to restart your computer and hold down the power button until it turns off etc. Because my backup is ok, is there a workaround allowing me to extricate myself from this self imposed problem? It would have to remove the requirement of my admin name and password being asked. I am willing to try anything but my knowledge of setting up another admin account is very limited. I do have an extra external HD if needed.

As my Son said, you could always buy another computer which if push comes to shove, I just may do, but at my age,(88) I would have to think about it.

Perhaps one last try?

Jaybass

You are describing a kernel panic. Follow that link for troubleshooting suggestions. Also see this Apple KB article.

Your Apple link is a duplicate of your X Lab link.

Oops! Thanks, Artie. I edited my post with the correct link.

Your backup is NOT OKAY since it is causing a kernel panic as Artie and Jon have pointed out. At this point your most viable alternative is to somehow get your hands on a fresh copy of Snow Leopard or schlep your iMac to the Genius Desk at the nearest Apple Store — they probably still have El Capitan on the server at the Apple Store and your iMac will run that. I strongly advise your getting an appointment before you go or you would risk being there for hours. If you are like me, a long wait at the Apple Store invariably costs money because of all the cool toys they have there. (My wife went in with a question about her iPhone and while she was waiting started watching the kiosk video behind the genius desk. She went in with a question and came out with a new iPad Pro.

I hear what you are saying about your age but as long as you are at the Apple Store, the new iMacs are really cool and you won't believe how much better their screen display is than you have been used to. Additionally there are features in the new Safari (and High Sierra when it ships in September(?) that your eyes will bless you for. Not to mention how fast they are.

I keep losing my post as I type

jaybass

There is a known issue with OS upgrades in that neighborhood that demote the only administrator, leaving the computer with no admin user. (I suspect it has something to do with the previous installation being an upgrade, possibly from several upgrades where the admin account was created under 10.3 or so, or with the only admin on the computer not being the original admin)

I had to fix maybe two dozen of them in my time, plus I had trained a few other techs in the room how to do it. (I printed out spoon-fed instructions of what to type is more like it) My fix involves booting into single user mode and re-assigning the user to the correct group. I don't know of an easier way. (the only alternative is to boot into single user mode and reset the root password, then login as root and fix it from the gui there, which can be slightly easier to do) DSCL doesn't work as advertised to edit external data stores, (you can read but not write) so it's not possible to fix from another computer via firewire target mode. (as it SHOULD be) Not sure if that's a bug or a feature.

It's a difficult problem to have because of how challenging it is for a less techie user to fix.

I for one would be very interested in a copy of that verbatim set of terminal commands to elevate (or decrease) an existing account to/from administrative privileges....or even just an executive summary.

Me too!

One of you has the 'send PM' option on their user dropdown, the other does not. Regardless, trying to send a PM to either of you gets me a "private messages are disabled" error.

Private messaging has been disabled at FTM since day one.

The admins can't even PM one another.

But you guys have probably got each other's email addresses and don't really need the feature.