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Error: "Could not load Passwords preference pane."

macOS version: 12.6.3 (Monterey)

Mac model: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, late 2015)


(Note that I am unable to upgrade to Ventura because it is not supported on this computer.)


When I try clicking the Passwords preferences pane, I get the following alert:



When did this issue begin?: Unsure, since I have not tried to access this preference pane in a while.


Solutions attempted so far that have not fixed the problem:


  • Booting into Safe Mode, then booting normally
  • Booting into Recovery Mode > Disk Utility then running First Aid on boot drive


I did find a crash report for com.apple.Passwords.remoteservice that includes the following info (and a lot more, which I can provide if needed):

Process: com.apple.Passwords.remoteservice [948]
Path: /Library/Apple/*/SafariSupport.bundle/Contents/PreferencePanes/Passwords.prefPane/Contents/XPCServices/com.apple.Passwords.remoteservice.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.Passwords.remoteservice
Identifier: com.apple.Passwords.remoteservice
Version: 1.0 (1)
Build Info: Safari-7614004006011004~3 (614D22)
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Responsible: System Preferences [906]
User ID: 501

Date/Time: 2023-01-28 01:20:45.1757 -0500
OS Version: macOS 12.6.3 (21G419)
Report Version: 12
Anonymous UUID: 167E8ACF-805F-531C-3363-49EB8EBD3A66

Time Awake Since Boot: 930 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 4 Illegal instruction: 4
Terminating Process: exc handler [948]

Application Specific Information:
BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBDISPATCH: Release of a suspended object
Abort Cause 297235526707052544


I fear that my only option will be to reinstall the OS, but I'm worried this will cause me more issues in the end.


Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide!

iMac

Posted on Jan 28, 2023 8:43 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 1, 2023 6:39 AM

Just to follow up to close the thread:


Another issue I realized was occurring was that Safari was crashing on open, which reaffirmed that something very odd was going on with the OS.


After getting the full installer package for 12.6.3 downloaded at long last (you can see the saga here), I created a bootable USB drive and did a reinstall of the operating system. It completed without issue, and now, the Passwords preferences pane loads correctly (and Safari no longer crashes).


For people as hesitant to do a reinstall of the OS as I was, it appears that everything else is working and loading as expected, so it was absolutely worth doing.

Similar questions

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 1, 2023 6:39 AM in response to Altanmori

Just to follow up to close the thread:


Another issue I realized was occurring was that Safari was crashing on open, which reaffirmed that something very odd was going on with the OS.


After getting the full installer package for 12.6.3 downloaded at long last (you can see the saga here), I created a bootable USB drive and did a reinstall of the operating system. It completed without issue, and now, the Passwords preferences pane loads correctly (and Safari no longer crashes).


For people as hesitant to do a reinstall of the OS as I was, it appears that everything else is working and loading as expected, so it was absolutely worth doing.

Jan 30, 2023 12:21 PM in response to Altanmori

Hello Altanmori,


Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities, and we'll be happy to help in any way we can. We understand you're having issues with accessing your passwords in System Preferences. Next, what we would recommend, is testing this issue in another user account. What we need to do, is log out of your current user. Log back in under another Standard or Administrator account and see if the same issue occurs there. This way we can tell if it is an issue with your user account, or if it is system wide: Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support


"Add a user

  1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Users & Groups  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
  2. Click the Add Account button below the list of users on the right (you may be asked to enter your password.)
  3. Click the New Account pop-up menu, then choose a type of user.
    • Administrator: An administrator can add and manage other users, install apps, and change settings. The new user you create when you first set up your Mac is an administrator. Your Mac can have multiple administrators. You can create new ones, and convert standard users to administrators. Don’t set up automatic login for an administrator. If you do, someone could simply restart your Mac and gain access with administrator privileges. To keep your Mac secure, don’t share administrator names and passwords.
    • Standard: Standard users are set up by an administrator. Standard users can install apps and change their own settings, but can’t add other users or change other users’ settings.
    • Sharing Only: Sharing-only users can access shared files remotely, but can’t log in to the computer or change settings. To give the user permission to access your shared files or screen, you may need to change options in File Sharing, Screen Sharing, or Remote Management settings. See Set up file sharing and Share the screen of another Mac.
  1. For more information about the options for each type of user, click the Help button in the lower-left corner of the dialog.
  2. Enter a full name for the new user. An account name is generated automatically. To use a different account name, enter it now—you can’t change it later.
  3. Enter a password for the user, then enter it again to verify. Enter a password hint to help the user remember their password.
  4. Click Create User.
  5. Depending on the type of user you create, you can also do any of the following:
    • For an administrator, select “Allow user to administer this computer.”
    • Select “Allow user to reset password using Apple ID.” To use this option, the user must have set up iCloud on this Mac. However, this option isn’t available if FileVault is turned on and set to allow the user to reset their password at startup using their Apple ID.
  • Use Sharing settings to specify whether the user can share your files and share your screen.
  • For information about Apple’s privacy policy, see the Apple Privacy Policy website.


We hope this helps.


Cheers!


Jan 30, 2023 6:19 PM in response to K_Faith

Thanks for the suggestion. I logged out and then in with a different, existing user (also an Admin), and got the same error message.


I decided to just bite the bullet and reinstall the OS, but I'm having trouble downloading the full installer for 12.6.3. See this post for details--it boils down to my connection being a bit spotty and the installer download is not resumable (so if it fails, it has to start over again).

Error: "Could not load Passwords preference pane."

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