Upgrade 10.4.11 to 10.5, admin and root login are toast

Question

I wasn't sure if I should post this under Installation and Setup or Account and Login, as it involves both.
Short version: After upgrading my G5 tower from 10.4.11 to 10.5, all logging into admin or root accounts stops working, except for logging in automatically as admin on bootup.
Long, overly wordy version:
So, I have a MacBook Pro 15" 2.4GHz and a G5 2x2.0GHz tower, both running 10.4.11. I cloned my MBP drive, and did the upgrade to 10.5 in the normal fashion, and everything worked fine. After the install, I updated to 10.5.2 and the other recent stuff in Software Update, and everything is ok there.
Next, my G5. I cloned my boot drive to an external for safety with CCC 3.0.1. I try the same update from 10.4.11 to 10.5 (PPC instead of Intel obviously, but it's the same install DVD) and it SEEMS to go ok. After the reboot I was up and running with 10.5, logged in as the admin user. I only have 1 user on the G5, the admin user, and it's set to automatically log in. So, it wasn't until I tried to update from 10.5 to 10.5.2 that I discovered that I could not give admin access to the process, or any process. It gives no error message, but acts the same as it would with an incorrect password. I tried logging out, and logging into the same user account again, and it fails. It also seems to think about for quite a while before it rejects the attempt by doing that little horizontal shake thing. Also, normally it would just list my admin user for me to click on, but instead I have the field to type it in myself, like it's totally lost track of the user(s). However, if I do a full reboot, it seems to log in fine via the automatic login function. Oh, and the exact same stuff happens if I try to log in as root, no go. Things like Repair Permissions and disk repairing (via booting to the 10.5 DVD and using disk utility OR booting to and using my TechToolPro 4.6.1 DVD) do nothing, and no problems are found.
Of course, I tried booting from the 10.5 DVD and resetting the password, and it DOES list the proper admin user's name while doing that. However, it doesn't help, logging in or doing anything requiring admin rights is still impossible, except for logging in via automatic login.
I reeeeeally don't want to do an archive install, as reinstalling all my apps would be an absolute nightmare. (This is an audio recording station, Logic Pro, Final Cut, Reason, PeakPro, etc.)
Any ideas? I restored the drive back to 10.4.11 from my backup after wiping it and reformatting (new partition and everything, everything except zero the drive), and did the whole process over again with the exact same results. Restored again, and that's where I am now. I guess I'll have to stick with 10.4.11 for a while longer until I figure this out.
- JonYo

Answer 1

Hello Jon:
It is difficult to determine (read I do not have a clue) what happened. However, an archive and install does not require reinstalling all of your software:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
A&I retains your programs, files, and settings. I used A&I to upgrade one of my iMacs to OS X 10.5 (I also used the upgrade feature on the other one). A&I also creates a rather large folder called +"previous system"+ that may be deleted after things are running well (it is a sort of safety net that contains all of the programs, data, etc from the prior installation).
Barry
Message was edited by: Barry Hemphill