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From: The New guy on 23 Apr 2008 16:09
In article <slrng0v2n9.dde.foo(a)ID-256592.user.individual.net>,
Ian Gregory <foo(a)prdetfanaaeextna.invalid> wrote:

> On 2008-04-23, The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> > In article <noemailhere-FCD543.13125923042008(a)news.mts.net>,
> > The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> >
> >> I rarely use Terminal but today seemed odd. I tried to type in my
> >> password (same one I use for installs) after inputing su and it wasn't
> >> accepted. Does su demand a different password? I tried all the
> >> possible password combos (the caps lock wasn't on) and no luck. Even
> >> tried su do and no luck. ???
> >
> > Well I found this page:
> > http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20010324095804436
> > then used this: sudo passwd root
> > and all seems fine. I wonder how it got changed?
>
> If you were in a non-Admin account and wanted to gain admin privileges
> using su you should have typed "su username" where username is the name
> of an Admin account. Typing "su" on its own would try to su to root but
> the root account is not enabled by default, and shouldn't be enabled
> unless you know what you are doing - and it sounds like you don't:-)

You're right - this is all new. Anyway I just reset the password and
its ok. The reason I was there was I'm trying to install a Gigafast USB
802.11b/g wireless dongle on 10.4.11 to work on an Intel Mini. It uses
the ZyDAS driver apparently. Its supposed to show up under Other at the
bottom of System Preferences. But it doesn't. I was reading about
wireless and Macs and it seems challenging to get a non-Airport device
to work. Or have others had luck in this area I wonder?
From: David Empson on 24 Apr 2008 09:38
The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:

> In article <slrng0v2n9.dde.foo(a)ID-256592.user.individual.net>,
> Ian Gregory <foo(a)prdetfanaaeextna.invalid> wrote:
>
> > On 2008-04-23, The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> > > In article <noemailhere-FCD543.13125923042008(a)news.mts.net>,
> > > The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> > >
> > >> I rarely use Terminal but today seemed odd. I tried to type in my
> > >> password (same one I use for installs) after inputing su and it wasn't
> > >> accepted. Does su demand a different password? I tried all the
> > >> possible password combos (the caps lock wasn't on) and no luck. Even
> > >> tried su do and no luck. ???
> > >
> > > Well I found this page:
> > > http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20010324095804436
> > > then used this: sudo passwd root
> > > and all seems fine. I wonder how it got changed?
> >
> > If you were in a non-Admin account and wanted to gain admin privileges
> > using su you should have typed "su username" where username is the name
> > of an Admin account. Typing "su" on its own would try to su to root but
> > the root account is not enabled by default, and shouldn't be enabled
> > unless you know what you are doing - and it sounds like you don't:-)
>
> You're right - this is all new. Anyway I just reset the password and
> its ok.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you "reset the password", so
just in case...

If you've done "sudo passwd root" then you have assigned a password to
the root account, which will enable it.

You should undo that change - leaving the root account enabled is rarely
useful and is a potential security risk.

I'm not aware of an easy way to disable the root account from the
command line, but there is an application supplied with the system which
can do it.

In 10.4 or earlier, use NetInfo Manager, which is located in the
Utilties folder (in Applications). Click the padlock to authenticate,
then use the "Disable Root User" command in the Security menu. If it
currently says "Enable Root User" then you are OK, because the root
account is already disabled.

In 10.5, use Directory Utility instead. It is very similar in this area.
Click the padlock to authenticate, then the menu item to enable or
disable the root user is in the Edit menu.

> The reason I was there was I'm trying to install a Gigafast USB
> 802.11b/g wireless dongle on 10.4.11 to work on an Intel Mini. It uses
> the ZyDAS driver apparently. Its supposed to show up under Other at the
> bottom of System Preferences. But it doesn't.

If you enable the root user, you should get an "Other" item appearing at
the bottom of the Login Window, not System Preferences. This lets you
type in any valid username and password, rather than choosing from the
list of accounts. If your root account is enabled, you can use this to
log in as root by typing 'root' for the username, and the password of
your root account.

This is a very risky thing to do. While logged in as root, you can do
anything to any file on the hard drive, and so can any application you
run. This includes potentially making your system unbootable if you
fiddle with things in /System.

I'd be very wary installing third party software which requires logging
in as root, to the extent that I'd rather avoid the product completely,
or find an alternative way to install it.

> I was reading about wireless and Macs and it seems challenging to get a
> non-Airport device to work. Or have others had luck in this area I
> wonder?

Can't help there.
--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: The New guy on 24 Apr 2008 13:53
In article <1ifwf1w.5oh8581uykm3fN%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz>,
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
>
> > In article <slrng0v2n9.dde.foo(a)ID-256592.user.individual.net>,
> > Ian Gregory <foo(a)prdetfanaaeextna.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > > On 2008-04-23, The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> > > > In article <noemailhere-FCD543.13125923042008(a)news.mts.net>,
> > > > The New guy <noemailhere(a)please.comm> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> I rarely use Terminal but today seemed odd. I tried to type in my
> > > >> password (same one I use for installs) after inputing su and it wasn't
> > > >> accepted. Does su demand a different password? I tried all the
> > > >> possible password combos (the caps lock wasn't on) and no luck. Even
> > > >> tried su do and no luck. ???
> > > >
> > > > Well I found this page:
> > > > http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20010324095804436
> > > > then used this: sudo passwd root
> > > > and all seems fine. I wonder how it got changed?
> > >
> > > If you were in a non-Admin account and wanted to gain admin privileges
> > > using su you should have typed "su username" where username is the name
> > > of an Admin account. Typing "su" on its own would try to su to root but
> > > the root account is not enabled by default, and shouldn't be enabled
> > > unless you know what you are doing - and it sounds like you don't:-)
> >
> > You're right - this is all new. Anyway I just reset the password and
> > its ok.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean when you say you "reset the password", so
> just in case...
>
> If you've done "sudo passwd root" then you have assigned a password to
> the root account, which will enable it.
>
> You should undo that change - leaving the root account enabled is rarely
> useful and is a potential security risk.
>
> I'm not aware of an easy way to disable the root account from the
> command line, but there is an application supplied with the system which
> can do it.
>
> In 10.4 or earlier, use NetInfo Manager, which is located in the
> Utilties folder (in Applications). Click the padlock to authenticate,
> then use the "Disable Root User" command in the Security menu. If it
> currently says "Enable Root User" then you are OK, because the root
> account is already disabled.

You were right on all counts. Its been disabled. Thanks. Good advice
and clearly communicated.

> > The reason I was there was I'm trying to install a Gigafast USB
> > 802.11b/g wireless dongle on 10.4.11 to work on an Intel Mini. It uses
> > the ZyDAS driver apparently. Its supposed to show up under Other at the
> > bottom of System Preferences. But it doesn't.
>
> If you enable the root user, you should get an "Other" item appearing at
> the bottom of the Login Window, not System Preferences. This lets you
> type in any valid username and password, rather than choosing from the
> list of accounts. If your root account is enabled, you can use this to
> log in as root by typing 'root' for the username, and the password of
> your root account.
>
> This is a very risky thing to do. While logged in as root, you can do
> anything to any file on the hard drive, and so can any application you
> run. This includes potentially making your system unbootable if you
> fiddle with things in /System.
>
> I'd be very wary installing third party software which requires logging
> in as root, to the extent that I'd rather avoid the product completely,
> or find an alternative way to install it.
 | 
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