I messed up- please help

I

iguy1

Registered
flat panel Imac 10.4.11 a few weeks ago I downloaded some shareware (already forgot what)- it did not work properly and I used their uninstall to get rid of it. Since then my system was acting funky (couldn't wake the computer from sleep without rebooting, Software update did not work, Ichat was weird, etc..). I tried to reinstall 10.4.11 onto the drive but it would not go.. so being the moron I am- I downloaded 10.4.11 combo update to my external hard drive and then installed it onto the computer. Now when I get to the login, it rejects my password. I used the install disc to try to change the password- it states that the new password has been accepted but then when I go to log in, no luck. even the master password to ?unlock filevault? is rejected. I am very much hoping not to lose files on the internal drive- I think I can do an archive and install (don't actually remember how) but that would bring me all the way back to the original 10.4 version. Is there a workaround to reset and have the computer recognize my login? thank you all and very happy holidays

Mike
 
I do not believe I had file vault on- but this is strange. I noticed that my keyboard was "off" certain letters did not match and when I decoded it( "a" was "c"), I was able to log in. However, all the funky stuff that was going on is still there- despite my rather lame reinstall of 10.4.11. so something is certainly corrupted and off- I though the reinstall would fix this. Any thoughts? thanks again

mike
 
You mentioned in your post you tried a master password to unlock filevault. I am at this forum because of a problem with filevault and a re-installation.

The $37.60 Question is: can you access your data? If the answer is "yes" then back it up now. That way, any fixes including a clean reinstall--which erases your hard drive and places a new system that you then update--will not damage your data any further.

Is your keyboard still "off?" What is it set to?

--J.D.
 
i plugged in a different keyboard and the same problem- I vaguely remember that the keyboard can be reformatted..how? the sequences make sense so I think that this not random but some pre-set (e.g all the vowels are nest to each other in the second row of the keyboard..) thanks
 
I am not familiar with changing a keyboard to do that--other than through changing the language. You can click on the American Flag and see under "Show Keyboard View" what the keyboard is.

Once you back everything up, you can then try a repair program. Goeth thou to Onyx--it is free--and run the scripts--will take about a half an hour depending. 10.4 Permissions are not as long to check and repair as they are in 10.5.

By the time you are done with that, a Guru should be awake and able to tell you if you just accidentally reset your keyboard to . . . I do not know . . . "Traditional Etruscan" or something. Then that should be a quick fix. All else fails, you can boot up on your start-up disk and Clean Install--which erases your HD and installs a new system. You can then update that online. Since you will have already backed up your data, that may be the safest.

Though back up and try Onyx and wait for a Guru to help you. It may be a very simple fix.

--J.D.
 
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