Uninstall MacPorts with no password

[Ryan Schmidt]

On May 18, 2010, at 04:26, Paul Morgan wrote:

> I have snow leopard OS and wanted to install Python 2.5 so I can write code for Google App Engine.
> 
> I found that MacPorts is an easy way to install Python 2.5, so I installed MacPorts and installed Python 2.5 using it.
> 
> The install failed to complete and raised errors.
> 
> Digging around I found the errors are because Python 2.5 is already installed on Snow Leopard, so all I have done is corrupt my pre-exisitng installation.

MacPorts does not overwrite software installed by the system; it confines its activities, for the most part, to the /opt/local directory. So your existing Snow Leopard installation of Python 2.5 has not been corrupted or touched in any way by MacPorts.


> I now want to remove the files added by MacPorts and then uninstall MacPorts.
> 
> I am typing sudo port -f uninstall installed.
> 
> This asks me for a password to proceed.
> 
> I have no password. I have never been given a password by MacPorts and I do not have a password set up on my Mac.
> 
> However, when I click Return after being prompted for a password it says Sorry, try again.
> 
> Any clues? Help? Can I remove the software in any other way?

There is no MacPorts password; this is asking for your Mac user account password. If you do not have one, then you cannot use the sudo command [1] and consequently cannot uninstall MacPorts (nor, I imagine, install anything with it, for that matter). I just learned this a very short while ago in troubleshooting with another user. You must assign a password to your user account in System Preferences > Accounts. Then you can proceed to either use MacPorts or uninstall it.


[1] http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4103