I just updated to the newly released 10.4.3, and ran across something very strange. I’m documenting it here, in case other users have the same problem.
After installing and rebooting, I was (twice) presented with a strange authentication window that wanted me to enter just my password to unlock the keychain “System.” At the first one, I cancelled the dialog, then figured I’d reboot because maybe it was a glitch.
At the second reboot, I got the same dialog. Again I cancelled, and went looking for the keychain in question, which is located at “/Library/Keychains/System.keychain.”
I double clicked that file, and it opened up my regular “login.keychain,” which seemed a bit odd to me. I quit the keychain manager and decided to shut down the machine for a few moments to see what happened when I restarted. Upon restart, there was no authentication dialog, so it seems the problem may have gone away. Also, the dialog did not present itself for any warm reboots after shutting down.
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As a follow up to this, it would seem that deleting the offending “System” keychain item (you’ll need to be an admin), clearing the System and User caches using Yasu and rebooting will totally eliminate this from happening.
It turned out that the system was trying to access my Airport settings at an early stage in the login process (as it should) but had somehow forgot the fact that it had permission to join the network. All’s well now.