Macbook Pro help please

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OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#190986 19-Jan-2016 10:54

After Xmas wife bought an i-phone 6 - since then if I am on the macbook and I leave it for 10 mins and get a coffee and go to the toilet or something and come back it asks me to click on my wifes name on the screen and enter a password... took me ages to figure out what the password was.

The password on her phone and on our i-pad is a 4 digit password, but the password the macbook wants is a longer one - think it is the same as our wi-fi password

Does anyone know why this is and what I can do to stop it asking for a password after about 10 minutes of inactivity?

it's a pain in the butt and never used to do this until wife got the new i-phone 6

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73 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1474424 19-Jan-2016 11:15

iOS passwords and MacOS passwords are unrelated.

To disable auto-lock your MacOS screen, check this link:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/17/lock-screen-mac/

The link tells you how to ENABLE auto-lock, so you just do the opposite.

Willy Scalioni

Dairyxox

1595 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 455

#1474430 19-Jan-2016 11:22

Its probably the apple ID password.

I think possibly you need to disable imessage or facetime on the mac (and maybe re-enable if you really need it).

I had terrible troubles with this about six months ago and had to format & reload the mac. You probably wont have to tho.

wellygary

8810 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5287

#1474454 19-Jan-2016 11:36

Sounds like some of the "handover" features between the phone and the Macbook may have been enabled, and this may have triggered the lock screen to be active,

OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1474901 19-Jan-2016 21:20

wscalioni: iOS passwords and MacOS passwords are unrelated. To disable auto-lock your MacOS screen, check this link: http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/17/lock-screen-mac/ The link tells you how to ENABLE auto-lock, so you just do the opposite.

thanks - I tried that but it was already DISABLED, so I'm none the wiser as to why it is asking me for a password

I could enable it and change the duration to 8 hours?

but would prefer to turn it off altogether

Boeingflyer

643 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 127

Trusted

#1474923 19-Jan-2016 21:31

Your password is the same as your iCloud, you need to change the password on the macbook to another password and then go into settings and then choose not to ask for a password.

OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1474950 19-Jan-2016 22:01

Fabian: Your password is the same as your iCloud, you need to change the password on the macbook to another password and then go into settings and then choose not to ask for a password.

but doing that will change the icloud password? I don't want to change that - wife will get upset

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Boeingflyer

643 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 127

Trusted

#1475020 20-Jan-2016 07:10

You will need to have two different passwords - one for iCloud and one for the macbook. Once you have changed the macbook 'user' password you will be given the option to un-tick the 'require password' under security and privacy settings which will disable you having to log in every time.

OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1475082 20-Jan-2016 08:52

Fabian: You will need to have two different passwords - one for iCloud and one for the macbook. Once you have changed the macbook 'user' password you will be given the option to un-tick the 'require password' under security and privacy settings which will disable you having to log in every time.

thanks for that - but under the security and privacy settings it is already disabled.... yet it still asks me for a password after a certain amount of inactivity

it doesn't ask me for any password when I first turn the Macbook on... only when I leave the macbook and come back after a few minutes or more.

Also we went send an e-mail to a friend of hers and all out contacts have gone! - something else that has obviously happened since she got the phone set up....

OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1475086 20-Jan-2016 09:01

Fabian: You will need to have two different passwords - one for iCloud and one for the macbook. Once you have changed the macbook 'user' password you will be given the option to un-tick the 'require password' under security and privacy settings which will disable you having to log in every time.

thanks for that - under the security and privacy settings it is already disabled.... yet after a certain amount of inactivity it asks for a password.

it doesn't ask for a password when I first turn the macbook on

also last night we went to send an e-mail to wifes friend and all our contacts have gone.... something else that's obviously happened since wife had her i-phone 6 set up!

Benjip

977 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 524

ID Verified

#1475170 20-Jan-2016 10:14

Are you able to upload a screenshot of this same page (see image below) on your Mac?

wscalioni

73 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1475178 20-Jan-2016 10:23

As a test, install Caffeine and make sure you set it up to not allow your Mac to ever enter sleep mode.

See how it goes...

Willy Scalioni

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OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1475190 20-Jan-2016 10:32

Benjip:

Are you able to upload a screenshot of this same page (see image below) on your Mac?

thanks - on my macbook, the top part - 'login password...' etc is all grey / blank - nothing is ticked or highlighted... unless I tick one of the boxes

the 'allow apps from....' is ticked 'Mac App Store and Identified Developers

wscalioni

73 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1475192 20-Jan-2016 10:37

OnceBitten:

Fabian: You will need to have two different passwords - one for iCloud and one for the macbook. Once you have changed the macbook 'user' password you will be given the option to un-tick the 'require password' under security and privacy settings which will disable you having to log in every time.

thanks for that - under the security and privacy settings it is already disabled.... yet after a certain amount of inactivity it asks for a password.

it doesn't ask for a password when I first turn the macbook on

also last night we went to send an e-mail to wifes friend and all our contacts have gone.... something else that's obviously happened since wife had her i-phone 6 set up!

Ok, still not clear which password you are talking about. To be able to help you I need to know if you mean:

Macbook password (computer logon)? or
iCloud password (while you are using the computer, a login box pops up and ask you for iCloud/AppleID password)?

Could you please confirm that before anything else?

Willy Scalioni

OnceBitten

545 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1475418 20-Jan-2016 14:21

wscalioni:

Ok, still not clear which password you are talking about. To be able to help you I need to know if you mean:

Macbook password (computer logon)? or
iCloud password (while you are using the computer, a login box pops up and ask you for iCloud/AppleID password)?
Could you please confirm that before anything else?

ok - when I turn on the computer it is fine... takes a few mins to load, then the screen comes up and I can use the Macbook as normal - it does not ask me for any password at this stage. I can use the Macbook fine

However - if I leave the room and make a coffee or go to the toilet or talk to my wife or something and come back to the macbook the screen is blank, so I press the space bar and the screen comes up.

The screen then has a green circle with my wifes name under it on the left hand side and a grey? circle with 'guest user' on the right hand side

I click on my wifes name and a password box comes up - this where I have to enter the password.... It took a while to figure out what password was required and we found out it is the same as our apple ID as well as our i-cloud.

as I mentioned it is only since Xmas when my wife got a new i-phone 6 set up that the macbook has been asking for a password after a certain amount of inactivity... and as we also discovered last night all our contacts have gone too.

All I want to do is stop the password prompt coming up that's all

thanks

wscalioni

73 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1475427 20-Jan-2016 14:30

OnceBitten:

wscalioni:

Ok, still not clear which password you are talking about. To be able to help you I need to know if you mean:

Macbook password (computer logon)? or
iCloud password (while you are using the computer, a login box pops up and ask you for iCloud/AppleID password)?
Could you please confirm that before anything else?

ok - when I turn on the computer it is fine... takes a few mins to load, then the screen comes up and I can use the Macbook as normal - it does not ask me for any password at this stage. I can use the Macbook fine

However - if I leave the room and make a coffee or go to the toilet or talk to my wife or something and come back to the macbook the screen is blank, so I press the space bar and the screen comes up.

The screen then has a green circle with my wifes name under it on the left hand side and a grey? circle with 'guest user' on the right hand side

I click on my wifes name and a password box comes up - this where I have to enter the password.... the password required is the same as our apple ID as well as our i-cloud

It is only since Xmas when my wife got a new i-phone 6 set up that the macbook has been asking for a password after a certain amount of inactivity... and as we also discovered last night all our contacts have gone too.

All I want to do is stop the password prompt coming up that's all

thanks

Cool. Pretty clear now.

So my suggestion is:

Install Caffeine
Caffeine icon (cup of coffee) will be available on the top right of your screen alongside with your WiFi icon, clock, etc.
Right-click Caffeine icon and select Preferences.
Check the boxes "Automatically start Caffeine at login" and "Activate Caffeine at launch", also make sure you set "Default duration" = Indefinitely
Close Caffeine dialog box and leave the computer for a while to see if it's going to sleep mode again.

Willy Scalioni

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