FATAL: role “postgres” does not exist; I can see postgreSQL running and can use psql to connect to tables

Question

I've seen similar issues posted on here but I can't solve my problem. I've had postgres working for a month and last night it stopped working. I can use psql in the command line to access databases and tables. When I connect to localhost and can view a page I've built. When I try to log in I believe it's the first time using psql and I get an error page with the FATAL message mentioned above. When I open Postgres from spotlight I get the message "There is already a PostgreSQL server running on port 5432". I also see the mssage "Server startup failed" and "You now have a PostgreSQL server running locally." It appears postgres is working, but I don't know why out of the blue I'd get this FATAL message on my localhost9292. Any suggestions/clarification? Thanks

Answer 1

Perhaps the operating system user you are connecting as doesn't have an account in Postgres. Try this: psql -U postgres

Update: current working theory - there is more than 1 Postgres install on the machine, and the default installed one has started instead of the user installed one. That would explain why this was working before, and now does not.