Administrator troubleshooting

G

gmonie

Registered
Hello all...
I've tried to look for my problem for 2 days now...and can't seem to find it anywhere...
The problem is that 2 days ago I plugged my iPod into my iBook, so that it could charge up, when I came home the iPod still reported that it was updating- which had been for several hours.
I couldn't remove it, so I decided to restart the iBook, only to not being able to log on to my account, which happens to be the administrator account, and therefore not being able to access all my docs, files etc. I have back-up files, but I don't wish to re-install because then I'll loose Word and all my music on iTunes.
When I press on my personal account, I get a message that says "cannot log in to...account at this time"- anybody know what this means?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and if anybody can help me out, let's just say you'll be the next best thing after sliced toast :-)

Thanks
gmonie
 
Hi gmonie,

This is an odd one - who knows what actually happened with the iPod, but your hard drive seems physically fine, because it's booting to the login screen, but obviously something about your admin account's settings have been corrupted. (Make sure Caps Lock isn't on when you're entering the password - that can be a sneaky one.) Have you tried entering the exact text of the error message you get into Google? What is the exact error text? There may be others out there who have had this issue.

Another thing to try would be to repair the disk and permissions. If you have your original system CD, boot from that by putting in the CD and holding down "C" at startup. Then, instead of installing anything, use the "Utilities" menu to launch Disk Utility. Click on your hard drive on the left side and click the "Repair Disk" button. You may also want to click the "Repair Permissions" button for good measure. Both of these should come back clean, with no errors, saying that everything has been repaired, before you reboot (without holding "C" this time, to boot to the hard drive) and try logging in again.

FYI, reinstalling OS X from your CD wouldn't necessarily wipe out your iTunes library or any of your other files in your home folder - it would just reinstall the system. If you select "Archive and Install" as the install option (using the "Options..." button near the beginning of the install wizard) it would give you the option of preserving the network and user settings from the old system.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

-MacDoug
 
Hi...
I did the second part of what you wrote to me, and now I'm able to log on, but nothing comes on the screen...I might have to do with filevault...
If you have any ideas- I'll be more than happy to read them.
Thanks again
Gmonie
 
Ah, filevault. Didn't think to ask about that. You had it enabled on this account, then? I have limited experience with it, so I consulting the Apple Discussion Forums and found this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1362347&#1362347

If the method suggested there doesn't help, then I'd do an "Archive and Install" of OS X without preserving network and user settings. Instructions here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

Then try to repair the old FileVault sparse disk image (located in Previous System Folder/Users) using disk utility. Instructions for that last part are here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25695

Write back and let me know how things are going. Best of luck.
 
I really apologize for keep asking for help...but what you suggested has gotten me further than anything else...
I'm trying to repair the geraldine.sparseimage (which is my account), but I can't... it keeps telling me that it needs repair, but shows this

Disk Utility stopped repairing "disk1s2" because the following error was encountered:
The Underlying task reported failure on exit

any ideas?
Thank you so much
G
 
Hi...
So, so far I've done the following: everything you told me on your last post, and then I took my iBook in to a computer (Mac) store, where they tried to use Disk Warrior to repair my account. But it didn't work, the guys in there suspect it is because FileVault has created an image of my account, and that it therefore cannot open it...is there anything else I can do? Or will I have to throw in the towel and format my iBook?
Thank you so much...

Best wishes
G
 
No worries - if this thing can be cracked, we'll get it. A big "duh" to the guys at the Mac store - of course it's because of FileVault! Otherwise this would be a cinch!

BUT, I've got one last trick up my sleeve, one that I picked up from macosxhints. This is assuming that you've got a new system up and running with a new admin user:

1. Logged in as your new admin user, open Applications/Utilities/NetInfo Manager and choose the "Security > Enable Root User..." menu option

2. Give the root user a password, and exit out of NetInfo Manager.

3. Open Applications/Utilities/Terminal and use the "cd" command to navigate to the directory where geraldine.sparseimage lives, e.g.:

cd /Previous\ System\ Folder/Users/geraldine

Or whatever the path actually is to get to that file. Use "\" to indicate a space before typing the space, or just press "tab" after typing the first few letters of the name to auto-complete. Fun, fun.

4. Now we're going to change the permissions on the sparseimage file so it is "owned" by your new admin account, instead of (possibly) being owned by the now non-existent "geraldine" account of the previous system. To do this, type:

sudo chmod a+w /Previous\ System\ Folder/Users/<rest of path>

It should prompt you for your root password after pressing return - this is because you used "sudo" to temporarily masquerade as the root user.

5. Now run repair disk again on the sparseimage as before and see if you get any further. I hope you do.
 
Sorry...I haven't got a new system running nor a new admin. account. but I'll get it done, as soon as you'd be so kind as to tell me how...
The thing is I'm still suppose to be on my honeymoon with my iBook, so I'm still not that "close" to it...and I haven't wanted to do anything to it, without being sure that I had no options left. So at the moment I'm using my other (local)account to check mails and the likes.
So if you don't mind...I'm game

Thanks
 
Ah, I see. But you have another account on this iBook that logs in? That's a Good Thing. No need to go rushing into a system reinstall then. But if I understand you correctly, it's not an admin account. Do I have this right?

Have you tried just double-clicking on the geraldine.sparseimage file to see if it opens?
 
I just tried and double-clicked it, but nothing happened...
at the bottom this shows:

Disk Description : Apple sparse disk image Media Total Capacity : 37.1 GB (39,873,503,232 Bytes)
Connection Bus : Disk Image Disk Write Status : Read Only

Disk Image Path : /Macintosh HD/Users/Geraldine/Geraldine.sparseimage

though when I double-clicked the geraldine.sparseimage an "umounted volume" image appeared underneath the geraldine.sparseimage...I did double-clicked that too, but it needs repair, which for some strange reason can't be fixed by the install disk???

and yes you are right, I have always had 2 accounts, my personal, which is also the admin. account and which I can't log on to... and one for friends, which works fine and which I'm logged on to now.
thanks
-G
 
Okay I couldn't wait, so I went ahead and made a new admin account and followed your instructions and here is what the mac said back:

Last login: Fri Aug 4 09:25:51 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
Geraldine-S-Bastias-iBook-G4:~ G$ cd /Previous\ System\ Folder/Users/geraldine
-bash: cd: /Previous System Folder/Users/geraldine: No such file or directory
Geraldine-S-Bastias-iBook-G4:~ G$ sudo chmod a+w /Previous\ System\ Folder/Users/<rest of path>
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
Geraldine-S-Bastias-iBook-G4:~ G$

I guess it's a sad day for me right?
 
Not necessarily done yet. Sorry to give you such hairy Terminal commands - it's a bit of a learning curve for the new mac user. Here's an easier way:

Highlight the geraldine.sparseimage in the Finder window by clicking it once and select "File > Get Info". At the bottom line of this window, expand the "Ownership and Permissions" section, expand the "details" section below it, and make your new admin user the owner by selecting it from the "owner' drop-down list. Click on the little lock to the right and authenticate as your new admin user if you need to enable the drop-down list.

Now you should have "ownership" of the sparseimage file, which may allow you to repair it in Disk Utility, like you tried before unsuccessfully. But try double-clicking it again first and see what happens. If that doesn't work, try opening it in Disk Util and selecting "File > Mount" on the unmounted part first, to see if it mounts. Write back with specific error messages if this doesn't work. I'm about out of tricks, but I still have a small belief that geraldine can be salvaged! (The image, not you. :)

Good luck.
 
Hi...
I can't thank you enough for keep on trying...but unfortunately it's not working...this is what it says about info

Name : Geraldine.sparseimage
Type : Disk Image
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : Apple sparse disk image Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : Disk Image
Disk Image Path : /Macintosh HD/Users/Geraldine/Geraldine.sparseimage
Full Path : /Users/Geraldine/Geraldine.sparseimage
Partition Type : Apple_partition_scheme
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No
Total Capacity : 37.1 GB (39,873,503,232 Bytes)
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0

and this is what it says when I try and repair disk:

Verify and Repair disk “disk1s2”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid node structure
Volume check failed.

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error

and this is what it also says when I try and mount it:

The disk “disk1s2” could not be mounted.

Try running First Aid on the disk and then retry mounting.

I guess there isn't much more to do??? but at least I'm learning a whole lot about Mac...
also...in case there isn't much I can do...is it anyway possible that I somehow can get all my music and interviews (I'm a researcher) from my iPod to another account or another computer, without losing any info?
also what happends if I restore the geraldine.sparseimage?
Okay...no more questions for today...but thank you so much...

-G
 
OK you hard disk is in the stages of dying a slow HollyWood style death. So lets try to get that data off it before it really seizes up. First of all boot into Single-User Mode and do these steps:

1. When the black screen comes up with a prompt type: fsck -yf (note the space after k before y)
2. wait for it to complete because it takes a few minutes. It should come back with a successful message. If it says it could not fix the drive, try the same step again. If it doesn't fix it on the second try, you will need something stronger.
3. When done just type: reboot
4. The Mac will try to reboot in OS X.

If nothing works, new hard drive is needed. Then if you really need data of the old drive try something like a data saver program.
 
WOWWWW!!!
what do you mean by "dying a slow HollyWood style death"? I'm pretty sure my harddisk is working fine, it's my admin. account that is the problem....I'm currently using my non-admin account and it's working just fine...Or am I missing out on something here? If so, please explain...
So I'm not sure I want to try your suggestion just yet, but thank you for replying.

-G
 
gmonie said:
WOWWWW!!!
what do you mean by "dying a slow HollyWood style death"? I'm pretty sure my harddisk is working fine, it's my admin. account that is the problem....I'm currently using my non-admin account and it's working just fine...Or am I missing out on something here? If so, please explain...
So I'm not sure I want to try your suggestion just yet, but thank you for replying.

-G
Click to expand...

Well your post said
Invalid node structure Volume check failed.
Click to expand...
. I suggested a fix because a part of your hard drive maybe dying a slow dramatic death. The fix is part of the Unix under pinnings that is a little stronger than Disk Utility.
 
I see...but the volume in this case is the account and not the hardisk...I guess what I'm trying to figure out, is whether this means that my hardisk will die soon and there's nothing I can do about it? I mean wouldn't formatting the machine solve the problem if anything else fails?
thanks
G
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top