Disable file service in single user mode?

After a failed (with an error) attempt to install the latest security update, the iMac won't get past 'waiting for apple file service' during boot. I presume the botched install left something bad, so I'd just like to get it booted so I can retry the install to see if that fixes it.
Safe startup doesn't work - it just reboots part way through.
So I'm trying to figure out how to disable the service altogether, from single-user mode.
Does anyone know what file(s) I need to modify, or what 'defaults' incantations I need to do, to disable it?
iMac G3, 600MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I managed to disable it - moved the AppleShare folder out of /System/Library/StartupItems - but it just hung on some other service.
The CD/DVD drive is toast in this thing, so I can't boot from the O/S disks either. Target disk mode doesn't work either, even though it is supposed to for this model.
I'm looking into netboot now.
iMac G3, 600MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Start SQL Server Service in Remote Server using Command Prompt with Single User Mode

Hi Folks,
I am able to STOP/START the Remote SQL Server Service using the following Command.
sc \\RemoteServerName START ServiceName
How to Start the Remote SQL Server Service using Single User Mode.
sc \\RemoteServerName START ServiceName -m
Narendran

Hello,
sqlservr.exe -m
or
sqlservr.exe -m -s
(for named instances)
For more information:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms180965(v=SQL.105).aspx
Configure Windows Firewall or security software properly.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alberto Morillo
SQLCoffee.com

Data back up from Single User Mode

Hello,
I have a problem with my 700 MHz iBook, dual USB, with OS X 10.3.9.
Unfortunately the OS doesn't start up because of "overlapped extent allocation" problem...
I would like to re-install the complete OS but before doing it, I would like to back up some directories.
Is it possible to save some data, by connecting an Ipod or some sort of external peripheral, from the Single User mode?
If yes, how can I do it?
Thank you in advance from your kind support.

Before giving up the ghost check out these:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25770.
Manually fix Overlapped Extent Allocation Errors without Disk Warrior
Overlapped overlapped extent allocation errors can be the bane of any Mac user's existence. Often, these errors go unnoticed until the problem becomes visible: your Mac might refuse to boot, crash unexpected, or worse, critical data might disappear from the Finder. Disk Utility can detect, but not fix overlapped extent allocation errors, and certain third-party utilities, such as Alsoft Diskwarrior, can fix them, but generally without reporting the consequences.
Overlapped extent allocation error occur when the file system thinks that two files are occupying the same area on the hard disk, hence overlapping on the same "inode," which is the structure which holds the location of the data blocks the file occupies, and also file permissions and flags.
Clearing the "overlapped" or "overallocated" extent allocation essentially means that you'll have to lose some data, because the only way to remove the overlap is to delete the file that's occupying the inode. So, if you suspect, or find out, that the guilty file is a critical system file that resides in one of the hidden system directories such as /etc /var /usr/ or visible system directories such as /System or /Library, and you don't want to reinstall the whole OS (which might not fix the overlapped extent allocation anyway), it's good to have another disk available to copy the files back to your original disk if necessary: a second bootable hard drive or a firewire drive connected to your Mac when you remove the misbehaving file. Just make sure that when you copy the file back to your boot disk that the permissions are correct, so it's best to use the "ditto" command, so that all sticky bits, flags, and permissions are preserved.
In case you didn't know, you don't have to boot from an install CD in order to check for overlapped extent allocations. All you need to do is restart your Mac, while holding down command + S to boot in "single-user mode."
At the command prompt that appears, type:
$ fsck -fy
If you have an overlapped extent allocation, you'll see:
"Overlapped Extent Allocation" (File 123456d)
No matter how many times you run fsck -fy, you'll never be rid of the error.
So, simply issue the following command:
find / -inum 123456 -print
Note the "d" was dropped, or any extra letter that appears after the inode number.
The find will return a file name that matches with the inode number, and the path to that file. If you remove the file then the fsck will not return this error next time you run it.
However, before you can delete the file(s) in single-user mode, you'll need to mount the file system. Type:
$ mount -uw /
When done, issue the "sync" command, and that will flush the write cache so that all pending writes are written from memory to the disk. Also, since most OS X 10.3 Macs use the HFS+ Journaled file system, it might be a good idea to disable the journal before booting into single-user mode by typing:
$ sudo diskutil disableJournal /
then re-enable it when done fixing the overlapped extents and rebooting normally:
$ sudo diskutil enableJournal /
Chris Anderson is a long-time Linux propellerhead who just got his first Mac, an ibook G4, and can't keep his hands off of it. He currently works as a "The Architect" and general visionary for a maker of world-class collectibles.
If you own Disk Warrior then it should be able to repair a drive with overlapped extents.
There are two backup utilities included in Unix - psync and rsync. You will find them in the /usr/bin/ directory. For documentation simply enter: man psync or man rsync. In order to write data while in single-user mode you need to issue the command: /sbin/mount/ -uw / (Note: there is a "space" between the "uw" and the "/".) To mount an external drive you will need to provide the mountpoint for it in place of the "/", e.g., "/Volumes/volname") without the quotes.

Single-User Mode Copying Files/System Does not Boot Past Apple Logo Screen

I have a Macbook 2.0GHZ, 2GB RAM, that recently tried to download a secuirty and keynot update. Following the download the system will no longer boot past the Apple Logo Screen with the spinning wheel. I do not have access to a OS disk yet or to a firewire cable either. I've have seen posts from others that describe how to use traget disk mode to reinstall the secuirty update manually and then they can boot their computer. Safe mode will not work. I did boot into single-user mode and run the disk utility there and it says my HD is OK. Since I do not have a firewire or an OS Disk, I am wondering if there is a way to copy those files i need to a USB pen stick then install them onto the computer via single-user mode, considering this is the only way I can boot and manipulate the machine at this time. If this is not possible please let me know so I can find a way to scrounge up a firewire cable or disk. Thank you in advance for any assistance.
Ted K

Thanks to Limnos and BDAqua I know you guys have helped others with these kind of problems from the other posts I read. I just want to list what I did exactly in case anyone wants to try to do this with a usb drive or does not have access to a boot disk or firewire cable.
1: Install security update on a pen drive
2: Boot in single user mode, CMD-S on startup
3: /sbin/mount -uw /
4: mkdir /Volumes/usb (usb can be any name, name of usb drive or anything you want)
5: ls /dev (you need to get the drive listing for the usb drive to mount it appropriately, it should be disk#s# but this is close to what the HD and Cd drives are listed as so you may need to list once before you put the usb stick in and once ater. I had issues inserting the usb drive in single-user mode and it would freeze up the root drive)
6: /sbin/mount_msdos /dev/disk1s1 /Volumes/usb (this mounts the usb drive, i had to use msdos because of how my usb drive was formatted, you may need to check your usb drive format, hfs is the apple format for usb drives but it did not work for me)
7: cp /Volumes/usb/SecUpd2009-001Intel.dmg (this copies the files from the usb drive to the root drivel, at this point you no longer need the usb drive)
8: hdiutil mount /SecUpd2009-001Intel.dmg (this mounts the disk image)
9: cd /Volumes/"Security Update 2009-001" (after i mounted the image this is how it appeared in the Volumes directory, you might need to do ls /Volumes to get the name, the quotes are important to get the whole file directory changed)
10: installer -pkg SecUpd2009-001Intel.pkg -target / (this installs the acutal update, i used the SecUpd2009-001Intel.pkg and it worked though I think you might be able to use "Security Update 2009-001" with quotes as well.)
11: reboot
i hope this helps anyone looking to do this. Thanks again to those who helpes and all the other posts that had information that helped me identify and then fix my issue! I still love my mac.

Back up files through Single user mode

Hello there,
it seems that I have problem with my hard drive. I tried to repair it with disk utility and the fsck command in Single user mode with no luck. The fsck command gives me the "Exited with signal 8" message and it won't start up the usual way or under Safe boot so I came to the conclusion to back up my files on an external drive and reinstall the system. I need step by step instructions how to back up the entire hard drive onto the external drive in Single User mode.

Do you have another mac with firewire?
Try target disk mode.
If you have a second Mac computer, you may want to try to copy over as many files you can. One way is to use target disk mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://lowendmac.com/misc/06/0710.html
This requires you to use your installation disk. With errors from fdsk, I do not think you will be able to copy all directories. I used a flash drive. A harddrive should be the same. To copy everything, use the directory /Volumes/Macintosh-HD
You may try to recover your data by booting up an installation cd/dvd and using the terminal.
You could try getting into the Unix command line interface and copy some files or directories.
You can copy files on the Unix command line interface if you placed the flash drive the USB port before powering on your machine.
Boot up your installation CD or DVD. To do this, place to the CD or DVD its drive. Power off the the machine. Hold down the c key then power on your machine. After you specify the language you will come to the installation panel. Do not install. Go to the top of the screen and click on the tools menu item. Click on Terminal to use the command line interface.
You should verify that the files have been copied correctly by trying them in another Mac before it the deleting the original.
*Here is an overview of the commands.*
Lets assume that the problem account has a short user name of mac.
#Copy directory "/Applications/Applescript files" to
# directory "/Volumes/Spotless/Applescript files".
# "Spotless" is my flash drive.
ditto -X -rsrc /Applications/Applescript\ files /Volumes/Spotless/Applescript\ files
#cd is change directory
cd /Volumes/COPYIT/answers/
# pwd is print working directory
pwd
#the ls command is for list
# l is long
# a to show hidden files. not shown in this example.
# F is type of file where / is directory
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -lF
Here is what these commands mean:
cd is change directory
pwd is a print working directory
ls is list
sudo is Super user do
# The sudo command will ask for your administration password. No characters will appear when typing your password. Press return when done typing.
cp is copy
copy a file example:
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# cp -i answers.txt /Volumes/SpotMore
Will copy the file answers.txt in the directory SpotMore.
Some files have a space in the name. You need to escape. see example:
mac $ ls -l ~/"see it"
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 3171 Oct 26 23:38 /Users/mac/see it
mac $
mac $ cd /Users/mac/Desktop/ttt\ html\ copy/
Do you know about tabing? Type in a few letters of a name then press the tab key. The computer will type out the rest of the name if it is unique.
The up arrow key will retrive the previous command. You the left arror and right arror keys to move around. Use the delete key to delete a character to the left.
<eol>
*More examples and moving around*
sh-2.05b# pwd
sh-2.05b# ls /Volumes
.Trashes Classic Macintosh-HD
._.Trashes Mac OS X Install DVD SpotMore
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk4s3 2.6G 2.5G 89M 97% /
devfs 121K 121K 0B 100% /dev
fdesc 1.0K 1.0K 0B 100% /dev
<volfs> 512K 512K 0B 100% /.vol
/dev/disk5 467K 9.0K 435K 2% /Volumes
/dev/disk6 95K 64K 27K 70% /private/var/tmp
/dev/disk7 95K 14K 77K 15% /private/var/run
/dev/disk3s1 3.7G 1.3G 2.5G 34% /Volumes/SpotMore
/dev/disk0s10 1.1G 1.1G 3.4M 100% /Volumes/Classic
/dev/disk0s12 70G 45G 25G 65% /Volumes/Macintosh-HD
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/SpotMore/
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/SpotMore
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -l
total 880
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 6148 Sep 10 2010 .DS_Store
drw------- 4 unknown unknown 136 Aug 25 2010 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 3 2010 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wt 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 10 2010 .Trashes
drwx------ 3 unknown unknown 102 Sep 3 2010 Desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 18944 Aug 27 2010 Desktop DB
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 2 Jul 29 2010 Desktop DF
-rwxrwxrwx 1 unknown unknown 26281 Oct 27 2009 Warranty Information.PDF
drwxr-xr-x 13 unknown unknown 442 Aug 4 2010 backup
drwxr-xr-x 13 unknown unknown 442 Aug 4 2010 backupPrior
drwxr-xr-x 7 unknown unknown 238 Aug 27 2010 cons
drwxr-xr-x 65 unknown unknown 2210 Sep 4 2010 iMac-back
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls
Z2300 iMac
.DS_Store move
.FBCIndex new Belward
.FBCLockFolder primary-comments-new copy.doc
Consolidate-rc primary-comments-new.doc
Downloads psc 1200
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b# ditto -X -rsrc iMac /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back
sh-2.05b#
sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command. l is a lower case L
sh-2.05b# ls -h /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back/
total 2800
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 24K Sep 12 2010 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r-- 1 unknown unknown 2K Apr 18 2010 Differentiate Between Models .html
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b# pwd
/Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
sh-2.05b# ls
Z2300 iMac
.DS_Store move
.FBCIndex new Belward
.FBCLockFolder primary-comments-new copy.doc
... clipped ...
sh-2.05b#

Transfer file in Single User Mode (Command S)

Can I mount my iPod as external drive and transfer my documents in Single User Mode? or any other mode? I just cannot login as normal. I want to backup my docs before refresing the OS.

You say 'Documents' not 'Music' so I hope you mean files stored on there using it in Disc Mode not iTunes files?
Boot in Single User Mode
at the root# prompt enter
CD /Volumes
ls
And see if a) the iPod shows and b) your backup drive shows
If so, the basic command is cp source destination but you must give the complete and correct paths here so post the drive names if you need clarification.

Cannot edit sudoers file in single user mode.

I did not back up my sudoers file on my pro.
I made a change to it, adding my "test" user to be able to use sudo, but upon restarting, it didn't work, and I cannot edit the file via cd in single user mode.
I mounted the drive, changed permissions, but it seems that I don't have the option to use vi, visudo, vim.
Thanks for the help.

I mounted the hdd using the command below.
I then made sure I could get to the file by cd to it.
Then once I was there, i would attempt to type vis <tab> to complete, and visudo does not show up. Typed in visudo, nothing. This was on a brand new mb pro. I can wipe it out, but I would rather figure out why its not working.
The reason for all this is I have to give it to a user at my job. We don't want them to have admin rights to install anything they want, but they need to use sudo in X11 for compiling and such. I read online that I can edit/add their username to the sudoers file, and allow them the right to sudo for compiling, starting apache on their laptops, etc.
Thanks.

Copying a file in Single User Mode

Hi all,
I was in the hospital, trying to backup files from my 15 inch Macbook Pro (new in November, running the latest OS), when I knocked over a cup of coffee, burning me. I knocked the computer onto the floor as I jumped up and now it is locked and read only, no matter what I do (original attempts to fix can be found here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/21633118#21633118). I can boot into single user mode, or holding down 'option' when I push the power button, but not boot normally to save my life.
I need to copy the entire user file ("Liz") from the damaged HD in single user mode to an external drive ("passport"). Is this possible? I tried using disk utility to copy the files, but it gives me an IO error. Being a novice, I am unsure if this is possible. It's the last chance I think I have to save the files I was *trying* to backup when I spilled the coffee. Some of it is critically important, so if you have any ideas, PLEASE let me know.
Thank you in advance.
Liz

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
1. Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup) or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

Disable single user mode

Is there a way to disable single user mode? I just booted in single user mode and w/o any password I changed my root password! In my mind this is a HUGE security hole, any one could gain root access to my laptop in a matter of less than a minute! I might as well not have a root password. I have the latest and greatest security updates, but this seems to be the biggest security risk in my mind.

If someone has physical access to your computer, your software is vulnerable in the way that you describe. There are a couple of approaches to preventing this problem. I have not tried any of this so I can only point you to some websites.
One way to prevent anyone booting into single user mode is to enable a password in Open Firmware, as described at Setting up firmware password protection in Mac OS X 10.1 or later. You would have to enter the password every time that you booted. And, you definitely would not want to forget your password; if you did, I don't know what you would have to do to recover.
A second approach is to use a 3rd party patch to prohibit casual use of the single-user feature. Look here for info on such a patch: Mac OS X Single User Mode Root Access. I believe that the software discussed here forces someone to type in a password to boot in single-user mode.
One question that I have about the second approach is whether it is possible for the patch to become out of synch with a future OS update. If that happened, one would also need a way to recover.
I hope this helps. If you are really concerned, I suggest that you do some internet searching on this topic.
Rich
EMAC G4 1.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

HT1492 Start-up disk is full and can't go past the blue screen; can't delete read-only files on single-user mode. Please help.

I have had my Mac mini for about 6 years and I guess it had enough of me (haha), so the start-up disk got full and it shut down before I could empty files on my drive. Unfortunately, all these years I hadn't backed up anything and now I can't access anything since it won't boot past the apple logo (and the blue screen for that matter). I have tried rebooting (holding shift as the mac mini loads), but that didn't help since the start-up disk will still be full and stuck on the blue screen. I am now trying the single-user mode (holding command key+s), and I tried to delete files in the trash bin but all of the files are read-only and access is denied! so I basically can't delete anything on the mac mini (it says "Root device is mounted read-only"). So the key here is to change the permissions but I don't know how to exactly do that. Can someone help me figure this out? (and type the command in the unix language please!!) [ Note: We have two users on this mac mini if that helps.]

Run the following command:
mount -uw /
This isn't a permissions issue.
(87807)

Single User Mode - mount external drive and copy user files to there

I have an iBook G4 running (I think) Tiger (although it may be Panther). AHT reports a bad HD and it will not boot from that drive. Mounting it via Target Disk to another Mac won't permit me to even see beyond the root directory; just a spinning sunburst at the bottom of the Finder window.
If I boot into single-user mode, I can "ls" and "cd" to see the files and folders in the home folder. Assuming the HD is named "Macintosh HD" and I have a USB-connected hard drive named "Backup", what are the commands I need to use in single-user mode in order to mount "Backup" and copy the user's home folder (there's only one on this drive) over to "Backup"?
As I indicated above, I'm not absolutely sure whether this iBook is running Panther or Tiger.
Thanks in advance for any assistance!

I'm in the middle of copying things.
I did a chmod -R ug+w (IIRC) to the 300GB volume and this made it writable.
I then CD'd to the Pictures folder on the Macintosh HD.
I then did a cp *.jpg /Volumes/300GB/ and found that it managed to copy all of the jpegs that were sitting loose in the Pictures folder. Some of the photos were corrupted but I expected this as the drive is reported to have a hardware issue by AHT.
I'm now in the process of copying the iPhoto Library using the cp -r command. Some files are being reported as bad and can't be copied but, again, I'm expecting this.
Whatever I can get from this drive will be a bonus. I'll mention that I used Drive Genius to duplicate the HD to a disk image and, while this was done successfully, it resulted in a "no filesystem" error when I attempted to mount it. However, I -did- ask for it to be mounted anyway and then used DiskWarrior on it (even though it didn't appear in the Finder). It took a few hours for DiskWarrior to come up with a "preview" of the disk (as the filesystem was thoroughly hosed). The User folder was nowhere to be found and every file that was displayed was corrupt. That's why I'm trying this "out of the GUI" process.
I'll thank everyone who made suggestions; they all pointed me in the proper direction.

MBP starts up in Single User Mode by default..

I restarted the machine because the trackpad was acting up. After file vault reclaimed unused disk space, the computer restarted with a black screen with "localhost :/ root#" in the upper left screen. I know very little unix so please forgive my lack of lingo.
How can I possibly get back to the graphical multi user login? I have tried to restart in safe mode and from the install dvd but they just bring me back to the "localhost :/ root#" black screen. I have also restarted holding down the option key to select a drive, which I set to my drive name, and same thing-- Apple logo on a grey screen, spinning gear, then black screen localhost :/ root#. Only thing I havent tried that im aware of is target mode, but my other computer (Rev A. iMac) which is the machine I am writng this from is on OS 9 with no fire wire and just a 4g drive.
So I need some advice if you have any. Hardware appears fine save for the trackpad and button being touchy. Apple has already replaced my swelling battery. They told me the new mbp's have a barrier between the the battery and trackpad assembly, (a prior neglected, inherent design flaw).
I do have a new USB external hd. Is there any way to login my home folder and completely copy the home folder contents to it in single user mode? If I could do this, I would at least be able to keep my itunes librarys, playlists, keychain data, mail, etc.. Thanks in advance for any help any of you may have

Ok, I did the dmesg command at the prompt. Here is word for word what it spit out:
localhost:/ root# dmesg
hi mem tramps at 0xffe00000
PRE enabled
standard timeslicing quantum 10000 us
vmpagebootstrap:513016 free pages
migtable_maxdispl = 71
Enabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
96 prelinked modules
ACPI CA 20060421
AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: ready
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=0 LocalApicId=0 Enabled
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorApicId=1 LocalApicId=1 Enabled
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
The Regents of The University of California. All Rights Reserved.
using 10485 buffer headers and 4096 cluster IO buffer headers
Enabling XMM register save/restore and SSE/SSE2 opcodes
Started CPU 01
IOAPIC: Version 0x20 Vectors 64:87
ACPI: System State [S0 S3 S4 S5] (S3)
Security auditing service present
BSM Auditing Present
disabled
rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen: 00001B5D-7D26-0000-2F5D-000090200000
Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
USB caused wake event (EHCI)
FireWire (OHCI) Lucent ID 5811 PCI now active, GUID 0016cbfffe523440; max speed s400.
Got boot device =IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@1F,2/AppleAHCI/PRT 2@2/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice/IOBlockStorageDr iver/ST9100824AS Media/IOGUIDPartitionScheme/Customer02
BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::probe:
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::start before command
CSRHIDTransitionDriver::stop
IOBluetoothHCIController::start Idle Timer Stopped
disk0s2: 0xe0030005 (UNDEFINED).
localhost:/ root#
A couple of things to note:
1. I did have an external bootable drive, which does work properly when selected as the Startup Disk, but still registers when not plugged in the machine.
2 File Vault is turned on. And let me tell you. If you ever use more than half your drive space, as most people do, you will have a humbling experience. File Vault is overkill. I am angry that Apple could not come up with a "fail-safe" for legitimate, password bearing rightful owners.
I just want one chance to get in my home folder to get what I want (my music, photos, mail, passwords, widgets, etc.)

Single User Mode: Searching for root...

My 2 year old unplugged my PowerMac iMac G5 (single) and now it won't start up.
I was finally able to boot up off of Disk Warrior and replace the directory, but it won't start up past the gray Apple screen. The fan comes on after about 45 seconds and blows hard. Then, I get the circle with a line through it, in gray. I've never seen that on a mac.. the international "no" sign.
When trying to start up in Single User Mode, I get a long list of stuff either disabled, not found, missing etc and then it starts writing to the screen every 30 seconds a line like:
Still searching for root.
I've tried pulling the back off, resetting the SMU, starting up in Safe Mode, etc.
This has happened with storms before and I can usually get it back.
I don't have original install discs.

When you say you have "OSX" but not the "original install disks" do you mean the mac originally came with an earlier version and you don't have those disks, but you have a retail copy of Tiger?
The circle with the slash means that Open Firmware cannot find BootX. Basically, I think this means that Open Firmware recognises the startup volume as such but cannot hand control to the operating system at all. BootX is what it uses to get the operating system going. Without this, as you've seen, you cannot make even single-user mode.
What is SMU?
*Is your data backed up? If not, prioritise that unless you can afford to loose it.*
Does DiskWarrior repair permissions? If not and you have the Tiger retail version, try running Disk Utility to do that. I don't think this will help, but it won't hurt.
Do you have another Mac? If so and you have the retail Tiger, you might be able to use Pacifist to replace BootX (in /System/Library/CoreServices). Alternatively, if the other Mac is running the same version of the OS and is also a PPC Mac, you could try copying the file from that machine.
Before you do any of this (with the exception of the permissions repair), try to backup any data you need if that's at all possible.
- cfr

Getting Data Off Harddrive in Single User Mode

When my PowerBook G4 running 10.3.9 boots after the white apple screen I just get a blue screen and my mouse. I am able to boot into single user mode and get to the data on my harddrive. My other computer at home is a linux box so if I could just get the network going in single user mode I could ssh all of my stuff to the other machine. Is there any way to do this. Is there any other good way to recover my data?

Hi dsignoff,
   This is likely to be more difficult than it sounds. If the problem isn't a failed hard drive, you might have an easier time simply doing an archive-and-install. Of course any installation except a fresh install will preserve your home directory but an "update" installation stands a reasonable chance of not fixing the problem.
   Even if you do succeed in moving everything to the linux box, you will likely lose the resource forks and file metadata of the files.
   Of course even if you do try an archive-and-install, it never hurts to have some backup. I'm a bit rusty with Panther but I believe that it requires the following as a first step:
/usr/libexec/registermach_bootstrapservers /etc/mach_init.d
That actually starts quite a bit of the system, possibly including the part that is causing Aqua to fail to start up. (meaning that it too could fail) However, if the above command succeeds, the next step is to execute:
/sbin/SystemStarter start Network
You may also need:
/sbin/SystemStarter start NetworkExtensions
If all of that works, you should have enough services available to ssh to the Linux box and move files. Of course there is a chance that if you find the error messages of the process that is failing in the /var/log/system.log, we could actually recommend a fix for the system.
Gary
~~~~
   "The wages of sin are death; but after they're
   done taking out taxes, it's just a tired feeling:"

IMac G5 won't boot in normal and safe mode, but will from single-user mode

Hello everyone,
I'm quite new here, so I try to do my best if you have a question.
Yesterday, someone nearby me had a iMac G5 (Powermac8,1), and he sayd, that the computer sometimes will boot, sometimes not.
I did test it, I thought it was running fine, but when I played some music in iTunes, it was stuck on 9 seconds, and crashed (with a kernel panic). The guy also sayd, that there was nothing important on the computer, so a clean install was fine.
Now, the problem is, that it will not boot in normal mode (without anything pressed on boot), also it won't in safe mode (shift-boot), but it will, when I enter single-user mode, mount the hard drive and exit from single-user mode so it will go futher on booting. Sometimes it will not, and immediately gives you a kernel panic in single-user mode, but it will 90 percent of the time.
Then you've got another problem: when it's running in the normal desktop from single-user mode, it'll be stuck after some time again. If I look into the Kernel Panic file created, most times it's because of Spotlight indexing, so I disabled that.
He also gave me the disks (Apple Hardware Test and Extra Applications, and iMac G5 Mac OS X Install Disks 1-3) that came with the Mac. He sayd that I could use them, but I think he didn't test out the SuperDrive, because when I insert a disk, it will try to read, but it will make 2 same sounds, and quits after 10 tries, when it will spit the cd out. Also normal (audio) disks.
Also, I must hurry with the commands for mounting and exiting in single-user mode, or it will just not boot.
In all cases, after 30-45 seconds from pressing the power button, the fan will start blowing at full speed, and it will stop after the exit command in Single-user mode. That's weird.
I can't do anything with the SuperDrive, I can't normally boot in Mac OS X except for Single-user mode (but I don't think he would like to do that every time the computer boots up), and I have very limited time when Mac OS X arrived on the desktop.
When booting in Verbose mode, it will be stuck on this:
AppleSMU::PMU vers = 0x000d004c, SPU vers = 0x15, SDB vers = 0x01,
(and sometimes ends with a kernel crash by fsck_hfs)
Things I've tried (without any success):
- /sbin/fsck -fy (in single-user mode)
- Disabling Spotlight and mds
If you want some more information, feel free to ask!
Greetings
-MrYoranimo
PS: My main language is Dutch, so my English can be bad at some points.

Thank you for your support! This reply is a little bit late, because I was to the camping this weekend.
The only thing I sure do know, is that the iMac has a bad SuperDrive. That's one problem, but I don't really wanna use it, and you fix everything by Single-user mode and when I get to the desktop to test things and change stuff in the Preference Panes.
What also came to my mind was that there also is a problem with the videocard (driver), because sometimes when I boot into Single-user mode, I can see some white pixels which aren't supposed to be there. And when booting from SUM you can see that some of the colors are different and there are weird patterns on the screen.
I also tried to setup a NetBoot server on this computer (MacBook Mid 2010) with just Lion 10.7.4 on it, but I'm not that expert and I didn't really find the good posts on the Internet, although I tried it with the Server applications and both Server applications and DeployStudio. But I didn't succeed.
I don't really like buying a new FireWire hard disk or external FireWire dvd reader/writer, except if it has USB support, because my MacBook doesn't support FireWire, and I really wanna make use of it then.
If I know more or have fixed it, I will surely post again here with what I did to fix it (if no one else has posted here already ).

Disable file service in single user mode?

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