[thealexfish]

I updated to 10.4.2 today and when I restarted I was able to log into my primary (and admin) user, but only the background desktop image shows. I can't do anything and my only choice at that point is to manually switch my PowerBook off and on again.

I used the OS X install disk and I changed my the password to my sister's account and it works fine so far. I can access unprotected files in my primary account. I can't seem to access my music and document folders from this user, which are the ones I need the most. I'm posting this right now from my sister's account.

I have NO CLUE what to do at this point. I ran the disk repair on the OS X install disk and that didn't change anything.

Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated.

specs

1.5 GHz 12" PowerBook
768 MB DDR SDRAM

[pat++]

You probably have some corrupted files in the Library folder of your user. Try to boot in single user mode by pressing command-S during startup and rename the Library folder of your user with the following commands :

[FONT=Courier New]/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
cd /Users/<short login name>
mv Library Library.old
exit[/FONT]

(replace [FONT=Courier New]<short login name>[/FONT] with the short login name of your user). Notice that as your preferences are located in the Library folder, the Dock and other apps will likely be back to their original configuration.

edit: you might be able to rename the Library folder of your user by using your sister's account and rename the folder with the Finder (I think you should be prompted to enter the admin password if you try to). It might be easier for you than the procedure above.

[Old Toad]

If fsck alters, repairs, or fixes anything, it will display the message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

IMPORTANT: If this message appears, repeat the "fsck -fy" command until this message no longer appears. It is not unusual for your computer to require several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional errors. Run it until you get two consecutive times with an "OK" result.

[thealexfish]

I've entered the commands and at some point in the process it said something along the lines of "The volume Alex's PowerBook appears to be OK" and I never saw anything like "Modifications were made."

I then rebooted and tried to log in as the main user and I still cannot reach the dock or my desktop items. My desktop picture, though, no longer appears and the default one (the Tiger abstract blue picture) appears instead. Of course I have to turn the PowerBook off manually to log in as my sister again.

Thanks so much for your help earlier, and any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

[pat++]

Try this then :

Login with your sister's account, open Terminal in /Applications/Utilities, and enter the following command :

sudo -s -u <your short login name>
sudo rm -f /Library/Caches/*501*
sudo find "/Users/<your short login name>" -name .DS_Store -exec rm -f {} \;

(enter your admin password when required)
and see if this helps...

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Old Toad

If fsck alters, repairs, or fixes anything, it will display the message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

IMPORTANT: If this message appears, repeat the "fsck -fy" command until this message no longer appears. It is not unusual for your computer to require several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional errors. Run it until you get two consecutive times with an "OK" result.

I didn't realize you should be running it a second time after the first OK message. Now does anyone know why Apple discourages people from running fsck on Tiger? I read it in a KB article.