# Forgotten password on Mac OS X



## Butcherboy (Jul 15, 2004)

My lil sister has an Ibook G4 running Mac OS X. She put a password on the laptop, the problem is, she cant remember since she used caps, lowerscaps letters and numbers. We have tried everything but is not working. Is there any way to bypass the password so she can use the laptop?
Any help will be apreaciated


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## zoombini (Aug 18, 2003)

If it is the root password she has lost then u may have to fiddle around with the Unix core of OS X.

1) Click restart at log in window
2) While Mac is restarting, hold down command-S until u see text scrolling through the window. This boots the computer into single-user mode.
3) At the localhost% prompt type:

/sbin/mount -uw /
/sbin/SystemStarter

U will then see various services starting up

4) When the Localhost% prompt re-appears, type:

passwd root

It will then ask u to type the new password twice.

5) After entering new password type

reboot

Hope this helps..


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## Butcherboy (Jul 15, 2004)

zoombini said:


> If it is the root password she has lost then u may have to fiddle around with the Unix core of OS X.
> 
> 1) Click restart at log in window
> 2) While Mac is restarting, hold down command-S until u see text scrolling through the window. This boots the computer into single-user mode.
> ...


I have follow your instructions but this command appears to be invalid: /sbin/mount -uw /

I can see all the program initiated when i type this command: /sbin/SystemStarter
after that a " Startup Complete" message appears.
I hit return and the localhost:/ root# command appears and i typed passwd root, waited a few second and the same localhost:/ root# command reappears again...  It doesnt ask me to type a new password.....


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## zoombini (Aug 18, 2003)

I take uve rebooted and the password is still prompted. Sounds like u had re-set it but couldnt type a new one.

Best bet now is to search the web on another machine for bypassing/resetting root password on osx.


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