Log in problems-please help!

Question

Hi everybody!
I repost my log in problems with some uppdate info, it may help someone to come up with a solution....I am no computer expert, so please excuse my way of describing this problem.
I switched my Mac off manually after having been frozen from the sleep mode.
I have 2 accounts, one admin and one regular. I try to log into my admin, and I get the message "You are unable to log in to the user "my username" at this time".
I restart the computer, same problem again. I can log in to my second account with no problem. I reinstall OS X, same problem again. I ran the disk utility from the installation CD, even changed the passwords and I am still gettig the same message. Neither can I log in when in safe mode.
I would appreciate any suggestion, since my admin account contains valuable data and to reinstal/restore everything will be a pain..and probably impossible. Moreover, the data are encoded in the file vault and I cannot open them from my regular account, or can I? I have tried to open the sparseimage file in the admin user catalog, but I get "no mountable file systems".
Is there any hope? Or should I return my Mac to Apple, in 3 days my one year guarantee expires....
Thanks
Evacha
iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

Answer 1

"no mountable file systems"
Sorry to hear of your difficulties, but unfortunately, the above message suggests that your data is likely permanently lost.
When data is stored in a disk image, damage to any portion of that image has the potential to render all of the files on the image inaccessible. Shutting off the power to the computer without "shutting down" normally increases the risk of damage to the directory in general, but if the image was actually mounted at the time, then damage could also occur to the directory in the disk image. Sometimes such errors may be repairable, but with "FileVault", the disk image is encrypted, reducing the chances of a successful recovery. It is unfortunate that nobody told you that maintaining up to date backups is essential when working with "FileVault" protected accounts.
" the data are encoded in the file vault and I cannot open them from my regular account, or can I?"
Normally, only the owner of the ".sparseimage" used in "Filevault" is able to access the image to attempt to open it - this is strictly a permissions issue and has nothing to do with encryption. If someone other than the owner attempts to open the disk image, the message is something like "Filesystem failed to mount... permissions denied". If the permissions are changed such that other users are allowed to use the ".sparseimage", the they would normally be prompted for the password and be allowed to mount the image. However, the "no mountable file systems" error indicates a problem with the image itself.
It is not likely to succeed because I think the filesystem needs to be mounted for this to work, but there is no harm in trying to repair the disk image. Control-click on the "user.sparseimage" file and select "Get Info" from the contextual menu. Under ownership and permissions, change the "Owner" to the second user, or else give "Owner", "Group" and "Other" "Read & Write" access, then follow the instructions in this document:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25695
You could also try some of the strategies described in this hint, but again, the probability of success is low:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050326041757989
I don't think you will be able to return your computer - check the documentation to make sure, but I think the "one year" only covers repairs if there is an actual physical defect - perhaps what is responsible for the original sleep problem. However, if you suspect you may have a lemon, you might want to consider buying two more years of AppleCare coverage as insurance, but I think it has to be activated before the original 1 year is up so you would have to hurry. But so far, I don't see any solid evidence of a defect - loss of the user data can be attributed to cutting the power without shutting down, which you said you have done more than once.