[Ciderbeer]

OS X 10.4.8 Dual G5. I recently reinstalled OS X and when I want to start the firewall, I get an error message that the system can't access the information. It recommends to restart the computer, but the problem persist. Any suggestions on how to fix this without having to do a reinstall.

Thank you

[jmiddel]

First try this: download 'applejack' at the link below, and install it, then restart holding down the command and S keys, you will boot up the command line interface (single user mode) and at the bottom of the lines of text yoou will see applejack and the instructions to run it (type applejack and press return. Run the automatic option, then when it's done, press return to quit, it will ask you whether to restart, follow instructions to do so, then see whether the OS can access the information. If not, srestart again while holding the Command-Option-o-f keys, which will put you in another CLI, open firmware. At the prompt, type :
reset-nvram <press return key>
set-defaults <press return>
reset-all <press return>
and then to exit, type bye or mac-boot which will restart. If this does not work, post back, all this will have eliminated a lot of possibilities.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19596

[Ciderbeer]

Tx jmiddel - it didn't fix the Firewall problem, but you certainly helped me to break my "fear-barrier" of doing some serious repair attempts and extending my computer knowledge. Before I got your reply, I ran Disk Utilities. There were a lot of Permission Errors that could not be repaired. Applejack fixed them, but unfortunately, not the Firewall problem.

I found this morning a similar issue posted on the Apple Forum. Recommendation was to reinstall the System keeping and archiving personal settings. A bit radical, but that has fixed it - back into the usual dream-run! Again, thank you for being available and taking the time to help me solve this problem.