Keychain problem (I think)

[Xairbusdriver]

A friend emailed me because he knew I am now using Mail. Apparently that somehow makes me an expert?! Anyway, he claims that "sometimes" when he clicks on an 'email' link in a browser (brand not specified) it opens Mail but then asks for his keychain password.

Of course, he has no idea what that password might be. I thought it defaulted to whatever your login P/W was or maybe nothing. He claims he has tried every possible P/W he has ever used (don’t know about "nothing"). I can find no prefs in Mail concerning this. I think it is the browser or even his Security settings intervening.

I told him to check Apple Forums but if anyone here has an idea...

[dolphin]

Jim, is he sure it is asking for his Keychain Password and not his email password?  This has happened to me a few times. Not sure why...but when I input my email password all is well.

[Xairbusdriver]

I have no real info. He is sometimes shoots first and asks questions later, if you know what I mean. Whatever the message says, he claims his entries are not accepted and he has no idea what his Keychain P/W might be. I need to do some research on that. I'm thinking it is the same as your login P/W, unless you intentionally change it. Of course, he probably has his Mac setup to login automatically, so he may not have used that password for years. :rolleye:

[krissel]

I'm in agreement with Roy.  I'll bet Mail is trying to get to his ISP and it wants his email password.

If he can otherwise open Mail, write emails, read those in his folders, etc.... there would be no reason for a password other than to go online for new mail.

[Xairbusdriver]

Well, after a Restart today, I got what he may have seen. Mail wouldn't complete its startup, asking for my login password. But I've had several programs asking me for that recently...this was the first time Mail did it. And the others seem to be satisfied now, also. I'll email him for more info.

Thanks!

[krissel]

Jim, you should run Keychain First Aid, located in the menu within Keychain Access. Of course if your friend doesn't know his login password it won't work.  He may have to reset his password using the install disk and then throw away his login keychain and start anew.

Also suggest running a permissions repair.

If he does know the password he could see if this helps:

To set up automatic keychain access for an application:
Open Keychain Access, located in Applications/Utilities.
Click Show Keychains if the Keychains list is not open, then select a keychain.
Select Application in the Passwords category. Click the disclosure triangle if Application doesn't appear.
Double-click the password in the Keychain window, then click Access Control.
To allow access to this password by any application, select "Allow all applications to access this item."
To control access to this password, select "Confirm before allowing access."
To require the keychain password instead of the application password, select "Ask for Keychain password."
To add individual applications that can access this password, click Add (+) and navigate to the application you want to add.
IMPORTANT: If you select "Allow all applications to access this item" for an item in your keychain, you make it easy for a computer virus or other software to read the password.
Click Save.

More reading:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-ynfWvkwz...esult#PPA200,M1

[Xairbusdriver]

Thanks! I'll print that out for him. I've looked at Keychain, occasionally, but never 'seriously.' I usually only ever see a request for access the first time I run a program that needs it. I assume that the 'privilege' is recorded by Keychain for posterity. Are you saying that 'posterity' may sometimes need 'repair?'