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I do not know why, but my password is no longer working on my MacBook Air v. 10.10.2 Yosemite. I have tried several things including restarting in Recovery Partition, going to terminal and typing "resetpassword." This does pull up the standard screen that allows me to change the password, but then the volume containing the user account never shows up, which means I can't select it to change the password. I have also tried the older method of deleting the /var/db/.applesetupdone file through terminal, but it seems this file doesn't exist for v.10.10.2. I've looked at the Installer Log, and some things I noticed are "keyboard layout identifier -16899 has been replaced with -28673" and other related messages, as well as "Can not connect to /var/run/systemkeychaincheck.socket: No such file or directory", and "Could not read prev-lang:kbd to set keyboard". I don't know if any of these messages are related to the problem.

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  • A modified keyboard layout may explain why your password does not match. Some people on the interwebs suggest using an external keyboard to rule that problem out.
    – Jaime Santa Cruz
    Jul 16, 2015 at 13:41

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Note: I'm not able to test this so I don't know if a backup will reintroduce the same problem. Also note that this is more of a blunt instrument approach

Firstly, I can't speak directly to the terminal logs. Someone may have a more sublime approach using that information.

If you have a Time Machine backup, you can reinstall OS X following these instructions (from this page). Once a clean Yosemite install is ready, you can migrate your user settings and data using Time Machine.

Clean Install OS X Yosemite

It’s time for a clean install. We’re going to show you how to do it without using a USB drive, which makes it much easier and less confusing. So to start, you should download OS X Yosemite from the Mac App Store. Once it’s finished downloading, it’ll immediately load up on your screen. Follow the instructions to install OS X Yosemite. Once it’s done, it’ll ask you to restart your Mac. Do it, and once it’s loaded up, we’ll start the clean install process:

  1. We’re going to restart your Mac again. But this time, hold down Cmd+R. (Keep holding it down while it restarts, do not let go)
  2. Now, your Mac should load a screen with a few options (you can let go of Cmd+R now).
  3. Select the Disk Utility option.
  4. In the window, at the top of the left bar, select your Mac’s Main Drive. It should be something like MainHD.
  5. Now, select the Erase tab, located next to the First Aid button at the top-center.
  6. Near the center of the window, select the Format drop-down list and select “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” as the type.
  7. Click Erase (this will erase your main drive!) and allow some time for the drive to format.
  8. When it’s finished, close out Disk Utility and select “ReInstall OS X” from the menu. It will ask for your Mac App Store password to redownload OS X Yosemite. Give it a minute to do so.
  9. A new window should pop up and OS X Yosemite should begin to install. If it does not, press back and enter your password again.
  10. Once again, follow the install instructions and enjoy your newly clean-installed OS X Yosemite.

At this point, you'd migrate your Time Machine backup, and fingers crossed, you will have cleared the password problem.

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  • I was hoping for a less brut force way, one that solves the problem directly instead of just starting everything from scratch, but if it works, it works. I'll let you know wen i try this method. Thanks!
    – luca590
    Jun 9, 2015 at 17:24
  • Understood, @luca590. I'm just not sure you'll be able to alter any file that is related to your admin-password without being able to authorise the change using said password. You might be able to reinstall just the system from the recovery disk, however it may need your admin password (I'm assuming that's the one that's borked, not your user password). You can try that first. It will leave your user file and data alone.
    – quip
    Jun 9, 2015 at 21:12
  • I'll accept your answer because it does work (it also clears the hard drive, but I think the problem was that the password had been changed via iCloud, which is now linked to domestic account passwords on Yosemite.
    – luca590
    Aug 15, 2015 at 0:51
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I don't have an answer to this issue, just an observation.

I have observed this symptom on a number of freshly installed OS X 10.0.X systems.

On both occasions the systems worked fine until a restart was required after installing software from a package. Both times the packages were simple printer drivers.

Both occasions occurred during a Mac Yosemite 10.10 Essentials training course.

On both occasions it was only possible to login in safe mode, verifying that the correct passwords were still known. However the passwords would not work with a normal boot up. Resetting the passwords did not work, except to say the new passwords were verified in safe mode.

Both occasions required a complete reinstall.

Signed. Too scared to install from packages anymore!!!

You're safer with installs from the App Store!!!

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