[stroudtx]

I read in a recent mac rag that to fix keychain problems you should run the free first aid keychain app. It indeed fixed the problems. Now though, I have to give it my log on keyword whenever Safari, Mail, etc. start up. How can I fix this?

[d00d]

In reply to:

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I read in a recent mac rag that to fix keychain problems you should run the free first aid keychain app.

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That's Jaguar only.

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Now though, I have to give it my log on keyword whenever Safari, Mail, etc. start up. How can I fix this?

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I think unlocking the keychain in Keychain Access should fix this.

[stroudtx]

ok. what does unlock the keychain mean? Unlock every keychain or some master place.
Thanks - Mike

[d00d]

Go to Keychain Access. You want to unlock the "login" keychain I think. Unlocking it means it won't ask for your password everytime something tries to access it. Afterward, go to that keychain's settings (look in the menus) and turn off the auto-locking.

[berg]

I don't know about the rest of you .. but I find the whole keychain scenario the most confusing thing about OS X. Even when I go to the Help Viewer I still don't know how to resolve issues ..
I wonder if Tiger is going to change any of the problems associated with working with keychains ..
the keychain access utility is not very self explanatory ...
I usually just go in there .. close my eyes and hope for the best
For instance if you unlock the login drawer in keychain ... why do you have to go in and still unlock every application ... and if you try and do that I get a dialogue box that shows up with "deny, allow once, and the choice I want "allow everytime" greyed out. What I did was press allow only once anyway, and then I was able to go to access control and allow all applications somehow. Then I experimented if it only allowed once .. and it allowed all the time without asking for a password.
Weird ....
Also if keychain first aid is not needed in Panther .. why is it still in the menu command?

[Nobody]

I don't quite understand what you're trying to describe, but in my experience Keychain Access has been fairly straightforward. In fact, it's one of my favorite OS X apps. When a neighbor gives me the code to open their garage door, or I find a neat piece of Terminal code (setting the invisibility bit, for example), I just make a note in one of my keychains. I have a keychain for all of my software serial numbers. It saves me the trouble of keeping track of little scraps of paper in my desk drawers.

[skew]

I had a big problem with Keychain in Panther a while ago. I was almost ready to reinstall the OS. The solution that solved all of my problems was to turn off File Vault. It took a couple of tries to turn it off but when I did, all of my problems were solved.

[d00d]

Let me clear up how Keychain works. Keychain encrypts all your passwords in a common file. By unlocking a keychain, you're giving password free access to that keychain to everything in the system. However, that's all it does.
As an additional measure of protection, you authorize specific applications access to specific entries. This way, even with an unlocked keychain, rogue programs (think virus, etc.) can't access this information without your say so.
When giving access on an on-demand situation, you have three options. "Deny" doesn't let the application get the encrypted password/content. "Allow Once" lets it access it one time, but when it tries to access it again, asks you again. "Always Allow" gives that particular application free access to that entry. They can access it again and again without asking.
Finally, you can go into keychain access and manually give access to those entries to all applications. Nothing has to ask to get the encrypted content. It's just delivered to them without requiring your permission (which could be dangerous).
I hope that clears it up.

[d00d]

In reply to:

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Also if keychain first aid is not needed in Panther .. why is it still in the menu command?

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The separate "Keychain First Aid.app" program is unnecessary because in Panther its functionality was rolled into Keychain Access.

[berg]

Hi Dood,
Thanks for the info .. I never understood any of that before ... however I wonder if the average user would have any idea of how to troubleshoot or get around that interface. I doubt it.
This is the most common issue with keychain
"Keychain keeps asking me for my password .. how do I turn it off?"
Here is what i had to do .. with your info .. to turn that off ..
First go to keychain and unlock login .. however when you are there it looks like you are unlocking and locking applications access to the keychain which is not the case
As you say you now have to go into each application and make further adjustments ..
Now here is where the problem begins .. I'm looking at a problem that keychain keeps asking me for a password. In order to clear up that problem you would think you would pick "allow all applications to access this item" in access control
Counterintuitively you must check "confirm before asking" and "ask for keychain password" the very thing which you are trying to stop ..... THEN save changes, where there you are asked to contradict what you are selecting in the previous menu..
In my case I was only able to either select "deny" or "allow only once" ... the always allow was greyed out. Anyway I selected "Allow only once" because I didn't have any other choice ..
After all this when I open mail .. which i was trying to correct ... you are still asked for the keychain password the first time .. then I assume after that is okay ..
Seems pretty convoluted to me unless I'm doing something really wrong ...
This is the best way to protect your system is that correct? When people are having problems, especially constantly asking for keychain access, what is the fastest way to correct that without jeopardizing security?

[d00d]

In reply to:

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This is the best way to protect your system is that correct? When people are having problems, especially constantly asking for keychain access, what is the fastest way to correct that without jeopardizing security?

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I'm not sure. I've always left my keychain unlocked and clicked "Always Allow". I haven't seen it misbehave on any of my machines.

[robec1347]

I have the same "problem" as you. Safari and Entourage ask for my password after each boot. But never again unless I reboot. I've unlocked Keychain and also enabled ( I thought) each app to launch without me entering my password. Still does. This never happened on my G4 with Panther. I currently have dual 2.5 G5.
Bob