Won't Login

[QuickNDeadly]

System:
This is a Powerbook G4 running Leopard.

Problem:
Computer boots, I see the login screen, type my password and then read the line says "logging in...". I see the basic blue background and then the cursor for a little while. Then it throws me back to the login screen again. I am more than 100% sure that the password is correct.

Solutions I have tried:

• Booting in safe mode / won't login
• Booting in Single User Mode and then deleting the com.apple.loginwindow.plist file to force the system create a new one
• Zapping PRAM and booting in safe mode
• Single User Mode - I did fsck and no errors found.

None of the above worked for me. I am wondering what the problem could be. I don't have another mac that I can backup my data using firewire cable. I am looking for a fix without installing the whole operating system from scratch or a way that I can save my data.

What do you think the problem could be? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[QuickNDeadly]

FOR THE ONES WHO MIGHT RUN INTO THIS SAME PROBLEM, HERE IS THE SOLUTION

I finally solved the issue without installing everything from scratch. Takes a minute.

THE SOLUTION :

the lsregister process is crashing. I found a clue to the fix in a 2003 blog posting by a guy named Rick when he said After a couple hours of snooping, and some luck (I was able to ssh in from another machine and watch the system log report the crashes), I discovered that Launch Services’ cache was corrupted, and was causing lsregister to seg fault. His posting was related to MacOSX 10.2.6, and since then the name of the Launch Services cache file has morphed. I found it in the same place (the /Library/Caches directory), but now there is more than one and they take the form of “com.apple.LaunchServices-023uid.csstore” where uid varies depending on the appropriate userid number. I removed all of the Launch Services files from /Library/Caches, restarted, and was able to log in fine. The only side effect was that the applications-to-launch-at-login list was gone (the “Login Items” tab of the Account Preference Pane) and had to be reconstructed.

Link to the Article: Fixing a Mac OSX Leopard Login Loop Caused by Launch Services | Disruptive Library Technology Jester

Cheers!