Leopard & Single User Startup

Since upgrading my iMac to Leopard,it will not boot in single user mode. Is this a previously known bug? Also wondering if the fsck code has changed with Leopard.

As far as I know, it is still Command-S early at boot to get single user mode.
What does "fsck code" means ? I don't think the syntax of fsck changed, but I'm wondering why you would execute fsck, unless you have a real filesystem issue that Disk Utility does not repair (which is using fsck under the hood)

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Snow Leopard Single User Box Set

Currently I have three accounts on my iMac: 1 for me and my wife, and 1 each for my two boys. Would I be able to do the same if I upgrade with Snow Leopard Single User Box Set or do I need to buy the family pack?
Thank you.

Hi hawsink: The box set is only required when upgrading separate computers. It isn't required when upgrading a single computer.
Hope this helps
Stedman

Leopard Single User Pre-Install Question

I have an iBook that is capable of installing Leopard, however I'm about to ditch that laptop in the recycling bin. I'm also about to get an even newer iBook running Tiger. If I put Leopard on my current iBook for now, will I not be able to put it on my new one? Is there any activation service or anything that will stop me from installing it when I get my new one? Thanks!

A single user license means you can only use it on one Mac.
Before disposing of your present one (there are also some folks who might like it) you should clean it. Then, you are free to install OS 10.5 on your new one.
The proper way to "clean" a computer before selling it is to zero the hard drive. This will make all your data irretrievable.
Steps for zeroing the drive Disk Utility:
1. Insert your Mac OS X CD-ROM disc or Restore DVD disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key until you see the spinning gear.
2. Once started up from CD or DVD, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc to access Disk Utility.
3. Choose the entire disk (top icon).
4. Choose erase tab.
5. Click on Options
6. Choose "write zeros".
7. Erase
This will take a bit of time because the computer is physically writing zeros to each block.
You should then re-install the original OS from the system disks and deliver the Mac to the new owner with the system disks that shipped with it. (If you actually dispose of it, this is of course unnecessary)
-mj
[email protected]

I changed my wheel group properties to no access at top disk level. I messed up, how can I change back in single user mode "command s" as I am now in Thailand and not able to access startup disks?

I messed up, I changed my "Wheel group" properties to No Access ( or something other than the default) at the top level of my startup disk "Macintosh HD".   Now my computer won't start up, I just get the spinning wheel of death.    I also am in Thailand right now, so I cannot go to a Genius at an apple store, nor do I have startup disks available.
So I was hoping there was a way to change back the properties of my disk (Volume) in single user mode (via Command +s) during startup, i.e. can I do a chmod command on the Macintosh HD listing under the Volume Directory.    Or where do i fix this?   Is it fixable without startup disks, etc...
THANKS FOR ANY HELP!!!!
If you could also please let me know you have an answer, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!
thanks so much
mark
<Edited by Host>

Thomas,
Thanks for the info on command-R, didn't know about that!!!
Yes I changed the sharing "Wheel Group" permissions on my hard drive via Get Info.    But that's all I did.    And then most of the apps wouldn't respond with anything.    So not knowing I did something stupid, I decided to re-boot, and then nothing but the Wheel of Death at startup.
I was trying to limit access to my computer on this network, changed my public folder settings, and then I thought why not the whole hard drive, but at that time I had no idea what the "Wheel Group" was... so I shouldn't have touched it, BUT IT DID ...... argggggg....
I managed to go to an internet cafe & research the problem yesterday.    I used the command +s single mode to get in, and then did the necessary steps to mount the drive so I could make changes.   I basically did this:
Boot into single-user mode (boot while holding down CMD-S)
Follow the on-screen instructions to mount the file system as read-write (a fsck command followed by a mount command)
Type the following: "chmod o+r /" followed by "chmod o+x /"
Type "exit" to leave single user mode and complete the boot sequence.
I found it at this link http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=416180
It worked... thank God!!!   Well so far so good.
I was going to try my own fix by chmod on the Hard drive listed under Volumes directory, but that doesn't seem to match the info under Get Info Window.    So I just used the fix above.    I probably should now go and do "Disk Utility - repair permissions", however I am a little gun shy right now, so I will probably wait until I am back in the States so I can go to an Apple store if it messes up.   Right now I'm following the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" MOTTO...
So Thomas I just wanted to say THANKS for replying so quickly, and I really appreciate your help!!!
(yes I know I shouldn't have used my email addresses, but I WAS DESPERATE, but that's still no excuse)
Hopefully maybe this thread will help someone else out in the future....
Okay, thanks again!
Mark

Hi, i forgot my macbook pro(snow leopard) password and i tried to reset it through single user mode, but whenever i type, everything comes out in CAPs instead of lower case. Each time i press the minus(-), it always comes out as an underscore(_).Pls help.

Hi, i forgot my macbook pro(snow leopard) password and i tried to reset it through single user mode, but whenever i type, everything comes out in CAPs instead of lower case. Each time i press the minus(-), it always comes out as an underscore(_).Pls help.

Well, you can try easing the shift key up with something thin but flexible (credit card sort of thing) but if the contacts below are stuck you may need to get it seen to by an authorised repairer.
If you can borrow a keyboard (a PC one will probably work as long as the password is alpha-numeric with no special characters) you can at least get in to backup your HD before going for repair.

Can not startup in single-user mode

I can not get my MacBook to startup in single-user mode. I am holding Command-S at startup but it starts up normally.
I also tried starting up in verbose mode by holding Command-V. That didn't work either. I then used the Terminal command to make it start up every time in verbise mode. That worked but I don't really want it doing it every time.
So then I thought it was because I have a firmware password set. I then started up holding the Option key so I can enter the password. The password field popped up as it should, I entered the password, then held down the Command-S keys to startup in single-user mode. No dice.
Can anyone tell me why I can not get single-user or verbose startup modes working?

Because entering the password into the Startup Manager doesn't disable it or any of the other functions it provides. You need to use the Terminal method or take the password off.
(58123)

Hard drive crashed. can i reinstall the snow leopard disc from before even though it was a single user?

My hard drive crashed on my macbook about a year ago. I bought a brand new hard drive and brand new full install snow leopard discs single user to install on my empty hard drive. about a year later the hard drive crashed again, but it was still under warranty so i sent it out to get a new one. now when i try to install the same snow leopard disc, it says it can not be installed on this computer. I feel like I've been ripped off now, because i have no operating system on my computer and i already spent $129 on the snow leopard disc a year ago. Is there anything i can do to install this? I also have an iMac, I heard you can take the operating system from that or something? I just need my macbook back.

Is there anything i can do to install this?
Yes. Boot from the installation disc, select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu, select the internal drive, and partition it with the default options. Then run the Installer.

Can't start in single user mode, trying to fix blue screen startup

Trying to fix my blue screen startup and I'm on the step to fix the Network Preferences and I'm suppoed to go into single user mode. It starts but then locks up. last line is: localhost:\ root# Anyone have an idea?

Hi David.
Sorry we haven't received any response yet. getting used to the new forum is occupying a lot of peoples time at present I fear. I've yelled a bit louder this time!
In the mean time, have you already tried starting up in SAFE mode, rather than SU? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393 and following the other processes identified in http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
If you have access to another firewire equipt Mac then you could also use Target disk mode (connect the two together with a firewire cable, then start up your own computer while holding down the t key. ) Your own HD would then appear on the desktop of the other computer as another HD, and you can then proceed to remove or shift the same .plist files (on your own HD) identified in point 4 or 5 of http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
Cheers
Rod

Does the single user license Leopard allow installation on two Macs?

Does the single user license Leopard OS 10.5 allow installation on two Macs - say my G5 desktop I use at home and the Macbook Pro I take on the road?

Thanks everyone. I don't intend to risk at that… seriously, the problem is many software licenses allow for installation on two computers (one "at home" and the other "at work", for instance) - at least all my recent purchases, mostly music production software such as Finale, Logic, Line 6 stuff and Live. That's why I thought Apple might have been a little more generous at that…
I appreciated everyone's help at clarifying that.

Will leopard have an install key does anyone know on single user pack

i was just wondering how many times you will be able to install leopard as i have more than one machine and wondering if its worth buying the five user pack as on tiger you did not have an install key on the single user meaning you could install it on unlimited amount of machines and they still had the five user pack on tiger

oliver Butlin wrote:
i was just wondering how many times you will be able to install leopard as i have more than one machine and wondering if its worth buying the five user pack as on tiger you did not have an install key on the single user meaning you could install it on unlimited amount of machines and they still had the five user pack on tiger
Installing a single license copy of OS X on multiple machines is a violation of the license you agree to abide by when installing OS X and is illegal, regardless of whether or not doing so is easy or possible.

Boot Snow Leopard from Thumb Drive in Single User Mode on Macbook Air

I'm trying to boot from a thumb drive that I transferred the Snow Leopard .dmg on. My macbook air only lets me get into single user mode. Every time I try to boot or enter safe mode or regular mode, the Macbook Air shuts down.

I do have the installation media on my usb flash drive. I'm sure it's leopard, and the problem is that I cannot get passed the apple logo on boot. The laptop turns off after trying to finish the boot for twenty seconds. However, I can get into single user mode. I just can't seem to install the media in single user mode due to my lack of know how.

Extremely slow startup/"Error loading kernel" when single user mode is run

My daughter's iMac has become very poorly responsive with a very slow startup time. It takes about 1 minute for the progress wheel to begin when I startup her machine. And then it takes another 2 1/2 to 3 minutes before the login screen appears. The computer runs very slowly with the spinning activity wheel occurring frequently. When I start it up in single user mode I get the following message on screen:
efiboot loaded from device: Acp:(PNP0A03,0)/PC: (1F12)/SATA(0,0)/HD(Part 2, Sig56BF F8F1-9ADB-4101-BD3C-BFBC38AEED26)
boot file path: \System\Library\CoreServices\boot.efi
.Loading Kernal cache file 'System\Library\Caches
com.apple.kext.caches\Startup\kernel cache_i386.AE149BE8'
Read error 0x7
Loading 'Mach Kernel'...
Could not open file 'Mach kernel'
Error loading kernel 'Mach_kernel' (0x9)
Could some one tell me what this means? And better still, what do I need to do to fix it?
Thanks.
JOhn

I can't picture what is doing this other than something missing or muxed, but perhaps it's time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.

Can I purchase a single user snow leopard upgrade for my Macbook and iMac?

I own a MacBook Pro and an Imac. Can I purchase just one single user upgrade for Snow Leopard?

Single User is for a single system. Buy the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Family Pack to upgrade up to a total of 5 systems.

Single user license of Snow Leopard on 2 machines then a family user straight to Lion?

I bought a single user license of Snow Leopard and installed it onto an external harddrive so I could boot my machine and check my applications such as Vectorworks 12.5 still work with the new OS.
Now I've done that on both Macs I have at home (MacBookPro 2.4 Intel Core 2 Duo and MacMini 1.83 Intel Core Duo), and now installed Snow Leopard properly on the MacMini (i.e. not booting off the external hard disk).
What I am wondering is that rather than purchase a 2nd user license of Snow leopard, if I was going to upgrade straight to Lion anyway, could I install my single license Snow Leopard on each machine, then upgrade both to Lion on a proper family user license given I'm not actually going to be using Snow Leopard if I upgrade to Lion?
thanks.

Yes the licence for SL states it can be installed and used on one machine. So if you remove it from the MBP (which you will if you run Lion on it) then there is no reason you can't use it on the Mac Mini.
And just for clarification there is no more Singel User or Family Pack or Family License for Lion. The license allows you to install and run it on as many systems as you own or control. So should you get a Lion compatible system in the future you can use the copy of Lion you now have on it also.
regards

Macbook Pro 2.2 GHz Kernel Panic on Startup, except single user mode

No matter what I have tried, my Macbook Pro will only boot in single user mode. It won't start from my backup drive, or the OS X disc as it always gets a kernel panic after about 15 sec. I am not sure if there is some troubleshooting I can do from the command line.
I tried running system profiler to see if the NVidia card is at fault, but system profiler doesn't finish it's output.
I have run a disc scan and it says the hard drive is ok.
Any help would be much appreciated - a local Apple Auth Service Tech couldn't help me.

So I just ran Apple Hardware Test and first two attempts get code:
4SNS/1/40000000: TB0T
Anybody? Logic Board?
And on a third attempt:
4VDC/1/40000003: VideoController

Leopard & Single User Startup

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