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HELP! I can't switch over to my account!

Rojo

Rojo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
1,328
241
Barcelona
On my home desktop computer, we (my boyfriend and I) have fast user switching enabled to switch back and forth to both of our accounts. My boyfriend uses this computer 90% of the time, while I usually use my laptop. In the past week, I've been using the desktop a lot more, as I've been fiddling around with my iTunes (all my music is on there).

Over an hour ago, I came to the computer and it was on my boyfriend's account -- but when I tried to switch over to mine, it just bounced to the main login window screen. When I try to re-enter my username/password from there, everything (but the mouse) just freezes, and it is unresponsive. I can't even switch back to my boyfriend's account when this happens. The ONLY thing I can do is shut the computer down and restart it. But once it gets back to the main login window, the ONLY thing I can do is login to my boyfriend's account. If I try to login to mine, I just gets bounced back and I'm forced to restart. If I try switching to my account from his account, the same thing happens all over again. No matter how many times I restart, ONLY my boyfriend's account is accessible!

I'm not sure what happened! My boyfriend says he hasn't messed with any settings, downloaded anything, or done anything unusual -- he only ever uses Safari, iPhoto and iTunes and that's it.

Can anyone please help?? :confused:

My info:
Computer: PowerMac G5
System: OS 10.5.4
Recent software downloads within past week: SimplifyMedia, GimmeSomeTune, and some iPhone app store purchases

With this happening to my Mac, and my iPhone suffering the lost apps/media problem, I feel like I'm having the worst Apple luck ever lately... :(
 
It sounds like there is a corruption on the disc or a permissions problem. Use Disk Utility to verify the Disk's integrity and to Repair permissions.

TEG
 
OK, I opened Disk Utility, clicked on Verify -- and after a while, I got a message saying that First Aid failed.

It's saying:
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.​

"Repair Disk" is not an option, though. At the top, it says:
If the disk needs repairs, start up from your Mac OS X installation disc, and then choose Utilities > Disk Utilty.​

Unfortunately, I don't have my Mac OS X installation disc anymore... :(

Now what?
 
Rojo said:
It's saying:
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.​

At the top, it says:
If the disk needs repairs, start up from your Mac OS X installation disc, and then choose Utilities > Disk Utilty.​

Unfortunately, I don't have my Mac OS X installation disc anymore... :(

Now what?
Click to expand...

Simple, find your restore discs or purchase Leopard. I would recommend keeping better track of your things.
 
brand said:
Simple, find your restore discs or purchase Leopard. I would recommend keeping better track of your things.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the words of wisdom, but I didn't lose it -- someone else did.
I would rather not re-purchase Leopard if I don't have to (but obviously will if it's my ONLY resort).

Anyone have an alternative solution that doesn't require the install disk, by chance?
 
Rojo said:
Thanks for the words of wisdom, but I didn't lose it -- someone else did.
I would rather not re-purchase Leopard if I don't have to (but obviously will if it's my ONLY resort).

Anyone have an alternative solution that doesn't require the install disk, by chance?
Click to expand...

Do you have Tiger restore disks? As long as you can get into Disk Utility via cd/dvd disk, it should be able to repair the disk
 
ayeying said:
Do you have Tiger restore disks? As long as you can get into Disk Utility via cd/dvd disk, it should be able to repair the disk
Click to expand...

I used my Tiger install disk, and went into Disk Utility -- but "Repair Disk" is not clickable.

TEG said:
You could purchase TechTool Pro, which can fix many things that the OS X Disks can't.
Click to expand...

I was hoping I could fix it without having to spend $100. That is a last resort, as I can't really afford that right now.

Any other suggestions?
 
This is more of a long shot than my last suggestion but would you have a 2nd hard drive or external drive that you can use the tiger install disks and install OSX onto that drive. Afterwards, boot into Tiger and repair the disk from within the OS. If I remember correctly, disk utility can repair any drive (HFS format) as long as its not being mounted and used (which is why you need to boot off the disk to repair the primary drive)
 
Ok, that last suggestion confuses me. I can install OS X on an external hard drive? :confused:

Before I get into that -- I got a hold of my Leopard install disk! :p
However, I don't understand how I'm supposed to get into Disk Utility from it. The Tiger install disk had an apps folder with Disk Utility (it just didn't give an option to Repair Disk). The Leopard Disk, however, has no such thing -- not that I can see, anyway.

Should I try re-installing Leopard, or could that make things worse? My boyfriend is terrified I'm going to end up erasing all of his settings/data/whatever, and frankly I'm worried too.

FYI - his configuration is still working fine, except for Spotlight. When we try and use it, it just says it's indexing my hardrive (which it's been doing for 2 days now - meaning, it's not really doing it). Oh -- and we have unfortunately NOT been using Time Machine, thanks to my boyfriend saying it was slowing things down, and taking up too much space. It would have been a big help now, though. Hopefully he's learned his lesson about how useful it can be...
 
Rojo said:
Ok, that last suggestion confuses me. I can install OS X on an external hard drive? :confused:

Before I get into that -- I got a hold of my Leopard install disk! :p
However, I don't understand how I'm supposed to get into Disk Utility from it. The Tiger install disk had an apps folder with Disk Utility (it just didn't give an option to Repair Disk). The Leopard Disk, however, has no such thing -- not that I can see, anyway.

Should I try re-installing Leopard, or could that make things worse? My boyfriend is terrified I'm going to end up erasing all of his settings/data/whatever, and frankly I'm worried too.

FYI - his configuration is still working fine, except for Spotlight. When we try and use it, it just says it's indexing my hardrive (which it's been doing for 2 days now - meaning, it's not really doing it). Oh -- and we have unfortunately NOT been using Time Machine, thanks to my boyfriend saying it was slowing things down, and taking up too much space. It would have been a big help now, though. Hopefully he's learned his lesson about how useful it can be...
Click to expand...

Start the computer off the Disc (by holding "c" at startup). After you choose your language, a menu on the Menu Bar will have Disk Utility in it, and run that version. That should allow you to try to fix the disk.

TEG
 
TEG said:
Start the computer off the Disc (by holding "c" at startup). After you choose your language, a menu on the Menu Bar will have Disk Utility in it, and run that version. That should allow you to try to fix the disk.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that worked!

Unfortunately....

After repairing the disk, and Disk Utility saying everything was ok with my hard drive, I restarted the computer and tried to sign on to my account....

...and...it still doesn't work. It continues to bounce me back to the login window. We can still get into my boyfriend's account, but Spotlight still doesn't function there (it is continually indexing).

Guess there's nothing to do at this point but bring it in for repairs. Unfortunately I can't afford anything right now, so don't know when that will be. I will be without access to my main computer for a while... :(
 
Can you use his account to make a new account and try using that. Then copy your information into it. That would be a good short-term solution until something better can be figured out.

TEG
 
A user on the Apple forums gave me a Terminal command to delete my account. I then tried adding it again, and now it's back to normal! Whew!

Thanks for all your help!
 
Rojo said:
A user on the Apple forums gave me a Terminal command to delete my account. I then tried adding it again, and now it's back to normal! Whew!

Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...

could you post a link to this thread?
I love to learn new stuff! :)
 
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