Mac OS X 10.5: Keychain cannot be found message after upgrade install

  • : April 16, 2008
  • : TS1530
  • : 306862

When an application attempts to access the keychain for the first time in Mac OS X 10.5, a password prompt appears. Even if a correct password is entered and the "Remember this password in my keychain" checkbox is selected, this alert may appear:

Keychain "name" cannot be found to store "sampleitem"
Your keychain may have been renamed, deleted, or it's on a unmounted volume.

You can then click Cancel or Reset To Defaults. The alert may appear again.

If Reset To Defaults is clicked two times, a new, empty keychain will be created. Previously-stored passwords will not be present in the new keychain, but this issue should no longer occur.

Mac OS X 10.5

To recover the original keychain with the former passwords, follow these steps:

If you have not clicked Reset To Defaults yet

  1. Go to ~/Library/Preferences/
  2. Delete the "com.apple.security.plist" file

If you have clicked Reset To Defaults one time

  1. Go to ~/Library/Keychains/
  2. Rename the "login_renamed1.keychain" file to "login.keychain"

If you have clicked Reset To Defaults twice

  1. Go to ~/Library/Keychains/
  2. Delete login.keychain
  3. Rename the "login_renamed1.keychain" file to "login.keychain"

 

This can happen with keychains originally created in Mac OS X 10.2.8 or earlier. 

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