Help : Startup gives me unix shell

stones

stones

Registered
The title says it all. I need help, because when I start up my iMac (running 10.2.8) it goes to the screen with an apple and a spinning thing, but then stops and gives me a unix shell. I'm currently forced to use my (gasp) Dell laptop. Obviously, I want to get this fixed. Anyone know why this might happen/how to fix WITHOUT reinstalling system software?

Edit:
Mind you, this is mere days after I payed an exorbitant amount of money for some monkey to replace my logic board.
 
You are in single user mode.
At localhost # type in fsck -y (with the space!) hit the return key.

This will fix any problems and you should get the message HD appears to be ok. If you get anything like file system was modified - then run fsck -y again.

Once done, type in exit and hit the return key. You should be brought to the log in screen.
 
Doesn't solve the initial problem: The Mac should _not_ boot into single-user mode without a key-combo...
 
the shell is sh-2.05a#
yes, fsck -y says HD appears to be OK, but exit after gives me a bunch of shit followed by the same shell opening again.
path to the shell is /etc/nologin/private/tmpsh-2.05a#

Argh.
 
try this:

Shut down the computer completely, then start it up again.
(Even though you are already in single user mode, do this anyway)


Immediately after the startup chime, press and hold the
command and s keys until you see a bunch of white text
on a black background - you are now in single user mode
and have root access to the computer, so be very careful
to enter the following commands exactly as you see them
printed - including the spaces.

Type /sbin/fsck -fy at the command prompt and press enter.
Repeat this comma0nd until you get a message 'The volume <yourdiskname> appears to be OK'.

Now continue with the following commands:

/sbin/mount -uw /

cd /Library/Preferences
rm com.apple.loginwindow.plist
rm com.apple.windowserver.plist

cd /Library/Caches
rm -r *

cd /System/Library
rm Extensions.kextcache

cd /System/Library/Caches
rm -r *

reboot

You should now see the normal login screen after the boot sequence.

The next thing to do is immediately Repair Permissions with Disk Utility.
 
OK, That didn't work. It does the exact same thing again. It gets to a white screen with an apple and a spinning thing, then stops and puts "sh-2.05a#" in the top-left corner. i can type clear and the shell takes over the whole screen. This is pissing me off. Fsck says it appears to be OK, and it isnt a preference or cache issue.
 
Try this;

/sbin/fsck -fy

until there are no errors

then -

sbin/mount -uw /
/bin/ln -s /private/etc /etc
/bin/ln -s /private/var /var
/bin/ln -s /private/tmp /tmp
/sbin/reboot

Note that if any of '/etc', '/var', or '/tmp' exist, you may need to delete them unless they are symbolic links to the equivalent directories in the '/private' directory.

See Mac OS X: Issues After Removing "etc" and/or "var" Directory Alias When Started Up From Mac OS 9 for a possible cause of this.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106908
 
Ok, so I'm not an idiot, and I didn't trash anything requisite for system operation. fsck - anything doesnt help. Looks like im taking it back to the repair people. Useful forum :rolleyes:
 
Don't know why everyone keeps saying to use fsck over and over, I'm not a Unix expert, but doesn't that just check for disk errors? Once is usually enough.

There's a default entry that can be changed that dumps you to a shell instead of the GUI at boot, I don't remember where it is, but some people have asked for it in the past... try a search for "boot shell" or something like that. Maybe I'll take a look...

I was having a similar issue when I tried to install Panther on a beige G3 that didn't support it. I got to the screen with the Apple logo and the spinning progress indicator but it would basically crash and print text at the top of the screen. I didn't get full access to the shell like you seem to have, but if it just started my best guess would be a hardware problem. If someone repaired your machine, they should've tested it before returning it.
 
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38695&highlight=boot+shell

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/h/348

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030219105312899


Looks like it could be a missing system file somewhere causing all your headaches too. Maybe OS X is like Windows in that it doesn't like you replacing it's motherboard (logic board - whatever) on it. Maybe a clean install is just the solution. A backup of OS X is pretty easy compared to Windows though (assuming you have a drive you can backup to.)
 
stones said:
Ok, so I'm not an idiot, and I didn't trash anything requisite for system operation. fsck - anything doesnt help. Looks like im taking it back to the repair people. Useful forum :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Not a very good attitude for someone who is requesting help from people who are volunteering their time and effort.
 
That reply from stones - IMHO - is showing his frustrations. All our suggestions and he still can not get the desktop.
 
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