I can't Log in. Please help.

[d74]

Hello guys. My first post here and it's going to be a curly one. I've searched through the archives and haven't found anything that has been of help.

I basically can't log into my powerbook. When I type in my password the login screen goes away, thinks, then just comes back. I know, for a fact, that the password is correct, I've reset it, changed it and the problem is still here.

Any ideas on what I can do? I'm fairly new to Mac's so answers in 'plain english' or 'pc-english' would be ace. (Yes, i'm a switcher.)

I can't even begin to assume what I have to do. I'm lost. All of my profiles, including 'root' won't login.

Hope someone can help me.

Kind Regards,

Jim.

 

[symphonix]

I haven't encountered this problem before, and it does sound like something has corrupted your operating system. I'd suggest you take it to your Apple dealer and ask them to take a look at it for you.

However, if you want to do it yourself, here's a few ideas:

Try booting off the Mac OS X install CD. Once the installer appears, you should see a menu in the top left, next to the Apple logo. I think it was labelled installer. You can use this to run Disk Utility, which you can use to check your disk's privileges and integrity.

Then, you might want to try starting up the mac holding the Command (the key with the apple logo on it) and S, for single-user Unix mode. This should check the disk's integrity, and allow you (from a unix command prompt) to check your logfiles. You might need to get a little help for this one.

If you can't make sense of that, then try booting into OS 9 so you can back up all your files and work to CD, then re-install OS X.

 

[edX]

you should check the apple knowledge base for this one. go to www.apple.com and go to support. they have some good articles on this. they do require your os x startup disk though as somebody could have stolen your powerbook and be asking the same question to get into it.

 

[d74]

Originally posted by symphonix
Then, you might want to try starting up the mac holding the Command (the key with the apple logo on it) and S, for single-user Unix mode.

Hi guys.
I did it! With a little help with some unix commands I managed to get into single-user mode, delete enough files on my hard drive to allow me to archive and reinstall the OS. I then installed the OS over the existing one (which got moved to a Previous System folder).

Once I was back in, I simply dragged my files, work and other stuff from the Previous System folder into my new Documents folder and bingo! I'm up and running again!

Thanks for your help.
J.