How to Reset your OSX Password without the Installation CD (Hack the NetInfo database)

Without the CD:

• Boot to Single User mode (press power and hold command-S down until a bunch of white text will cascade down a black screen. (It's all Geek to me, too.) Eventually it stops at a # prompt. This is the Unix root.

  Note: Type the text shown in white after the "#" prompt. Everything you type should be exact, including any spaces (you must put them where shown, and no place else.)

  If using OS 10.1 or 10.2 you'll see a message suggesting running fsck, and that's a good idea. Type "/sbin/fsck -y":

  2.05#  /sbin/fsck  -y

  Then press RETURN.

  That will take awhile, until you get another # prompt.

• Then mount the root file system. Type "/sbin/mount -uw /":

  2.05#  /sbin/mount  -uw  /

  Then press RETURN.

• Now, edit the netinfo database. Type:

  2.05#  cd  /var/db/netinfo

  Then press RETURN.

  Then type this command toi edit the NitInfo database. Replace the string "username" with the short name of the actual user account you want to access.

  2.05#  /usr/bin/nicl  -raw  local.nidb  -create  /users/username  passwd  ""

  Account username is the short username of your account. (Note "passwd" is the proper keyword here.)

  Then press RETURN.

• Then finish the boot. Type:

  2.05#  exit

When you log in you will probably be asked for your Keychain password. That's irrecoverable without the password. Try your old account password, just in case. This AppleCare KnowledgeBase article will step you through removing the old, inaccessible keychain so you can create a new one and get on with life.

This will not bypass or recover data from File Vault; you need the password (or Master Password) for that.

Go to System Preferences / My Account pane and reset your account password. Don't leave it blank.

You can read more about the nicl command here.

If something above seems missing, confusing or down-right wrong, you can eMail me as car1son at my .Mac account. (Please be specific at what point things went wrong and how they went wrong.)

Good luck!