By default, Mac OS X will simply give you a shell when you perform a Single User Mode startup. However, you can force OS X to ask for a password in order to gain shell access. To do so, vi the /etc/ttys and change secure to insecure. Once you have done so, create a password in /etc/master.passwd for root.
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Reset the Admin or Root Password in Mac OS X
Forgot the admin password in Mac OS X? Well, Apple let’s you boot computers into what is known as Single User Mode. To boot a Mac into Single User Mode, boot the machine holding down Command-S. Once the system boots up, you should see a command prompt. Here, run fsck: fsck -fy Then mount the file system: mount -uw / Then reset the password using the passed command passwd <username> For example, if the user is root: passwd root When prompted, provide the desired administrative password.