[waterbuck]

Hi
A few odd things happened with my TiBook running OSX.2.6

First, I restarted the machine using the key-command shortcut for the first time and it restarted into what appeared to be console mode. This doesn't happen when I restart by dragging my mouse to the Restart command.

In the console mode, it accepted my login id and password (one with admin privileges) but did not accept the command "reboot." I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was something like "user not authorized."

I did a hard shut down (ctrl + apple-command + on/off button) and restarted. During the restart the computer hung for an excessive time at "waiting for network file system".

This was worrisome to me. It eventually completed the startup but it was again a new behavior. Reading on Apple's website, I read an article 107523 in the knowledge base suggesting that this problem "occurs because incomplete information remains in the NIS pane of the Directory Access application. When deleting information from this pane, be sure to delete it all. "

I know nothing about NIS panes, but the one change we made to the machine this week was to install AdmitMac, a new client software to admit Macs to Windows Active Directory networks (it had worked very well). I just made the assumption that the AdmitMac software may have screwed something up with whatever NIS is. I went to the Directory Access utility program and disabled something called "NIS" on the gut instinct that I probably don't need it.

Anyway, after doing this obscure procedure, I restarted into console and ran fsck. I was advised that the voume was okay.

In truth I have no idea what the underlying problem was here. The most disturbing thing was the initial restart, when the computer booted into console, accepted my login, but would not permit a reboot back into the Aqua interface....Can anyone else tell whether there is more serious trouble I need to address?

I tried to join a "chat room" for a game (Unreal 2003) tonight. Could this be due to a malicious java program of some kind from the chat room?

[Rainy Day]

I restarted the machine using the key-command shortcut for the first time and it restarted into what appeared to be console mode. This doesn't happen when I restart by dragging my mouse to the Restart command.

Which keyboard shortcut did you use? Any keyboard shortcut which restarts the machine but which doesn't bring up the Restart, Sleep, Cancel, Shutdown dialog is likely to do bad things to your HD. Always restart your machine via the Restart mechanism to avoid HD corruption.

If your machine starts up in the single-user console mode for no apparent reason, is very likely your HD is corrupted!

In the console mode, it accepted my login id and password (one with admin privileges) but did not accept the command "reboot." I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was something like "user not authorized."

Try sudo reboot

I did a hard shut down (ctrl + apple-command + on/off button) and restarted. During the restart the computer hung for an excessive time at "waiting for network file system".

It was probably running fsck as you, once again, probably corrupted your HD.

Anyway, after doing this obscure procedure, I restarted into console and ran fsck. I was advised that the voume was okay.

Good. Now run Disk First Aid. And after that, run DiskWarrior

In truth I have no idea what the underlying problem was here.

Most likely you corrupted your HD through an improper shut down (as per the above).

The most disturbing thing was the initial restart, when the computer booted into console, accepted my login, but would not permit a reboot back into the Aqua interface....Can anyone else tell whether there is more serious trouble I need to address?

That was because you didn't use sudo

[waterbuck]

Hi
One thing that was unclear about my prior post was that the problems were initiated by using a key combination for "logging out" and not for "shutting down".

the combination was
Shift+clover/apple+Q and is supposed to be equivalent to running one's cursor to the "Log Out" command.

Anyway, the importance of using sudo is helpful to me.

It sounds like I need to get the OSX version of diskwarrior.

[Rainy Day]

Yes, well with Shift-Command-Q, it shouldn't have screwed up your HD nor hung your Mac in the first place. But neither should it have rebooted your Mac, so that's puzzling. Might you have accidentally hit the reboot sequence instead? That'd be easy enough to do, would do a hard reboot, and explain everything nicely.

<editorial> Frankly, i don't think Log Out should be a keyboard shortcut at all. I mean, after all, how often do you want to log out? I think i've done it less than a dozen times over the past two years. I can be troubled for a trip to the Apple menu if it means i won't accidentally log myself out when all i really want to do is quit an app! </editorial>

Yes, the MacOS X version of DiskWarrior is a good idea, although the older version works just as well if you have a Mac which can boot into MacOS 9 as you can repair your X volume from 9.

[waterbuck]

Running DiskUtility off the CD, particularly the "verify permissions" and "repair permissions" routines have helped, it appears.

Several permissions were apparently in need of fixing, although I have no idea why or how they get altered, or how the DiskUtility program actually knows what is the right state for them to be in.