How JustAnswer Works:

  • Ask an Expert
    Experts are full of valuable knowledge and are ready to help with any question. Credentials confirmed by a Fortune 500 verification firm.
  • Get a Professional Answer
    Via email, text message, or notification as you wait on our site.
    Ask follow up questions if you need to.
  • 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
    Rate the answer you receive.

Ask Mike Your Own Question

Mike
Mike, Mac Medic
Category: Mac
Satisfied Customers: 8204
Experience:  Over 20 years IT experience with Apple computers in publishing, marketing and design.
25267123
Type Your Mac Question Here...
Mike is online now
A new question is answered every 9 seconds

I cannot sign into iCloud

Customer Question

I am trying to sign in to iCloud in system preferences but get the message "unrecognised Apple ID or password  and a popup that says "You can't sign in at this time. Try signing in again." ID and password  work fine on iCloud.com. I know they are right. I have tried many times. This is a new macbook air, running 10.7.4, worked fine on my old MBAir

Submitted: 4 years ago.
Category: Mac
Mike
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.

First I need some information and I also want you to check some things that may or may not be affecting the situation :
Please go to the Apple logo on the upper left of the screen, go to About This Mac (DO NOT Select More Info), and tell me the Version (under Mac OS X), the Processor and the Memory, it is all right there.
Click on the first icon in the Dock the "Finder", then click on Go at the top of the screen, you will see a drop down menu, go to Utilities. When that opens double click on the application called Disk Utility. When Disk Utility opens, you will see your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD) on the left. Highlight your hard drive and click on Verify Disk on the far right. If that is OK in green type , then click on Repair Permissions on the left.

Note: If Verify Disk is not OK try to Repair. If Repair is successful then Repair Permissions, if it is not successful let me know.

Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Version 10.7.4

1.8GHz Intel Core i5
8GB 1600MHz DDR3


Should I try to repair permissions?

This is what I got after "verify disk permissions":

Verifying permissions for “Jawbone SSD”

Group differs on “.DS_Store”; should be 80; group is 0.

Permissions differ on “.DS_Store”; should be -rw-rw-r-- ; they are -rw-r--r-- .

User differs on “Applications/.DS_Store”; should be 0; user is 501.

Permissions differ on “Applications/.DS_Store”; should be -rw-rw-r-- ; they are -rw-r--r-- .

Group differs on “Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf.plist”; should be 80; group is 0.

ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root”

ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root/Library”

ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root/Library/Preferences”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Desktop”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Application Support”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Assistants”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Digidesign”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds/Alerts”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/ColorPickers”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Compositions”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Favorites”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/FontCollections”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Fonts”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Input Methods”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Internet Plug-Ins”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Keyboard Layouts”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Printers”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Screen Savers”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Sounds”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Voices”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie/Plug-ins”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/iMovie/Sound Effects”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Movies”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Music”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Pictures”

ACL missing on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Public”

Permissions differ on “System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Public/Drop Box”; should be drwx-wx-wx ; they are drwx--x--x .

Permissions verification complete
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
I said to Verify DISK not Permissions. REPAIR Permissions.
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Hmmm, copying what you typed, maybe I read it wrong:

"If that is OK in green type, then click on Repair Permissions on the left. "
So that's what I did. It didn't fix anything, still have same problem
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
You ended the last post with Permissions verification complete it, not Repair Permissions complete? Ok... so to be sure Verify Disk was OK in green type and then you Repaired Permissions?
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

1. Verify disk complete, green type "appears to be ok"

2. Verify disk permissions, had some errors that I copied in the post.
3. Repair disk permissions
4. Shut down and restarted
5. Problem persists
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.

Go to Utilities folder and open Keychain Access. Delete any keychains that have me.com or mac.com and then try again after restart.

Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Ok there were a couple keychains I deleted. Restarted. Tried to sign in under iCloud in sys pref. Got the attached message. There was a iCloud account in mail, contacts, and calendar, I deleted it. Went back to iCloud and entered user id and pw, got the original "you can't sign in at this time" message.

Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
Go back to Keychain Access and go to Keychain First Aid run Repair.
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Still doesn't work.
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.

I'm not using email are you here:
http://www.justanswer.com/question/edit.aspx?T=46310613
If so, try this:

  • Create a new user account (account 2)
  • Check to see if you can login to icloud on the new account
  • If so, go back to your original account
  • Go to users and groups in sys. prefs.
  • Click on login items
  • Click join a network account server
  1. Click the "Open Directory Utility..." button.
  2. Click the lock in the Directory Utility window.
  3. Enter an administrator account name and password, then click OK.
  4. Choose Enable Root User from the Edit menu.
  • Then select show fast user swtiching top right and show login window
  • click other user and type the password ***** provided for root user
  • Open Macintosh HD select the users folder look for the new account you created. "account 2", take the exact note of folder name. DELETE this folder
  • Then select get info on the account 1 file, then rename this folder by clicking name and extension, NAME THIS FOLDER THE EXACT SAME AS THE ONE YOU JUST DELETED
  • Restart your computer
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Same error with new account
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
In that case I suggest you reinstall Lion:

Restart and hold the Option key until you see your boot partitions, then choose the Recovery HD, when it boots select the Disk Utility and Continue. Then select Macintosh HD on the left and first Verify Disk if that is OK Repair Permissions. If Verify Disk is not OK try to Repair Disk. If all ok quit Disk Utility and click on reinstall Lion.
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.
I'm not ready to reinstall lion to get iCloud working. I tried the same thing on my old MBAir and it is acting the same now. I think it may be some Apple issue and I'm going to wait until tomorrow and try again.
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
Well in that case yes, I would wait. You ARE sure you are using the same user/pass as at iCloud.com?
Ask Your Own Mac Question
Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Yep, user id and pw works like a charm there and at www.icloud.com
Expert:  Mike replied 4 years ago.
Can you sign in with iTunes? If so go to your account settings and reset your authorizations.
Ask Your Own Mac Question

Related Mac Questions