MacPro 3,1 10.6.8 freezing (safe mode) only on ONE account?

[emjayen84]

I am stumped. I have no third-party apps installed, except for remnants of VMware (can't find anything on my computer related to it, but still gives me the VM logo in top bar). I have two accounts, both have 10.6.8 and the account I use most, with all of my sensitive data, freezes upon login. I get desktop and then the beach ball, or arrow and cannot Force Quit or anything. Even in Safe Disk Mode, it still gives me problems on the account I need to use. I have the original Radeon 2600 installed, but that cannot be the problem, as it still gives me this problem with my Radeon 5770 installed. Everything was working just fine with 10.5.8. Now I really wish I would've just left it alone.

Help would be greatly appreciated!! Apple Discussions is next to useless these days for me.

Here's my specs:

Early 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 (2x 2.8 Ghz)
2 hard drives: 320 GB and 500GB - the later being the one with the single problematic account.
Radeon 2600 XT
4GB RAM

 

[El Awesome]

Why don't you migrate the sensitive data onto another user and try again?

Get the demo of MacKeeper or AppDelete. They will find those parts of VMware, and that could really solve the problem.

 

[emjayen84]

Why don't you migrate the sensitive data onto another user and try again?

Get the demo of MacKeeper or AppDelete. They will find those parts of VMware, and that could really solve the problem.

MacKeeper? No thanks. AppDelete is only good for actual existing apps on your computer, in icon form. Like I said, the remnant of VMWare is just the joined-squares logo in the top bar. When you click it, it doesn't bring up options to actually launch it, as I removed (or so I thought), the app before. I can't move my data to another user, because if you try accessing the data, it won't let you, due to security reasons built into OS X.

 

[El Awesome]

Make a TM backup, format your system drive, reinstall OS X and then let him migrate the data from TM.

How do you know it isn't more than just the icon?
If this is the only 3rd party app, I would be very suspicious about it.

 

[emjayen84]

Make a TM backup, format your system drive, reinstall OS X and then let him migrate the data from TM.

How do you know it isn't more than just the icon?
If this is the only 3rd party app, I would be very suspicious about it.

So, I just connected my 2TB external, and am backing everything on my 500GB hard drive, which contains the two accounts - the problematic freezing one, and the working one. NOW, my question is this: Once I've backed up the entirety of the hard drive, will I then be able to access the data from the problematic account, once i've reformatted and installed a fresh 10.5.8? (probably won't be going back to 10.6.8 for obvious reasons) - because I can't access certain key folders like Desktop, as it is now, trying to access from this working account.

 

[hfg]

Go into SystemPreferences under your user account and look at the Login Items. Remove any you don't need (such as VMware helper).


-howard

 

[emjayen84]

That's another thing - no login items are listed. That last post with the question, is really all I need answered. Thanks for the reply though.

 

[TinHead88]

Why don't you migrate the sensitive data onto another user and try again?

Get the demo of MacKeeper or AppDelete. They will find those parts of VMware, and that could really solve the problem.

El Awesome, you seem to be quite busy on these forums. Please don't give advice unless you are certain of the subject. Your suggestions as quoted above are apps that have been shown to being close to a scam. They are not recommended by anyone who really knows about Mac stuff.

On another post you recommended that someone could do a PRAM reset by holding down control alt p r. Again, check your facts before posting.

Thanks

 

[emjayen84]

El Awesome, you seem to be quite busy on these forums. Please don't give advice unless you are certain of the subject. Your suggestions as quoted above are apps that have been shown to being close to a scam. They are not recommended by anyone who really knows about Mac stuff.

On another post you recommended that someone could do a PRAM reset by holding down control alt p r. Again, check your facts before posting.

Thanks

So, no one can tell me if that data on other accounts, that is unaccessible to me right now, WILL be, after it's backed up and i've gotten a fresh OS installed and use Migration Assistant?

 

[hfg]

Have you tried using Disk Utility to "Repair Permissions" and/or "Repair Disk" on the problematic disk?

Also ... possibly too late now ... but you could have attached your external disk and installed OS X on that ... and then migrated your data from your internal disk to the external disk. Then on the reboot you would be running from your external disk and you could see what was available in your data files without reformatting the original internal disk.

I always hate to do anything drastic (like a reformat) on my original disk when I am troubleshooting a problem. In fact, I usually would remove it from the computer and treat it as a read-only master disk to minimize the chance of doing even more damage until I had successfully recovered my data.


-howard

 

[El Awesome]

El Awesome, you seem to be quite busy on these forums. Please don't give advice unless you are certain of the subject. Your suggestions as quoted above are apps that have been shown to being close to a scam. They are not recommended by anyone who really knows about Mac stuff.

On another post you recommended that someone could do a PRAM reset by holding down control alt p r. Again, check your facts before posting.

Thanks

Dude, you know, I'm just trying to help.
The PRAM reset thing was of course not on purpose, but sorry, that can happen...

I have lots of troubleshooting experience, and the idea with MacKeeper was only to get completely rid of VMware, not to use its other functions.

 

[emjayen84]

Have you tried using Disk Utility to "Repair Permissions" and/or "Repair Disk" on the problematic disk?

Also ... possibly too late now ... but you could have attached your external disk and installed OS X on that ... and then migrated your data from your internal disk to the external disk. Then on the reboot you would be running from your external disk and you could see what was available in your data files without reformatting the original internal disk.

[/B]

Yes, I've run both of those and nothing is wrong with the drive. So, are you saying that the folders from the problematic account, with the little red "stop" sign type thing in the corner, that are restricted to me, on my working account, will let me INTO them to read and write data, if I install OSX on external,? -- or do what I'm in the process of doing now, which is to back up that data, to reformat and will it let me access that data then? I don't want to be locked out of my data, just because it technically treats me like I'm two different people and don't have "permission"

Also - I'm reformatting because I haven't had a clean slate since I bought the Mac Pro in 2008. lol

 

[TinHead88]

Dude, you know, I'm just trying to help.
The PRAM reset thing was of course not on purpose, but sorry, that can happen...


I have lots of troubleshooting experience, and the idea with MacKeeper was only to get completely rid of VMware, not to use its other functions.

Dude, the thing is you're not helping anyone by spreading false information and bad advice. All I said was check your facts before you post advice, which you seem to be highly offended about despite your obvious misguided offerings.

Just chill out and only post here if you're certain you are not leading people in a foolish direction. These forums can be very useful but even more so if people stick with what they know rather than guess and just throw some stuff out there.

If you truly have lots of troubleshooting experience you surely will agree.

 

[hfg]

Yes, I've run both of those and nothing is wrong with the drive. So, are you saying that the folders from the problematic account, with the little red "stop" sign type thing in the corner, that are restricted to me, on my working account, will let me INTO them to read and write data, if I install OSX on external,? -- or do what I'm in the process of doing now, which is to back up that data, to reformat and will it let me access that data then? I don't want to be locked out of my data, just because it technically treats me like I'm two different people and don't have "permission"

Also - I'm reformatting because I haven't had a clean slate since I bought the Mac Pro in 2008. lol

I really hope you don't reformat or partition your original disk until you have successfully recovered your data.
Once you have done that ... there will be no possibility for another try! Work on a copy if at all possible, leaving the original as untouched as possible.


You might try this ... right click on the top folder which has the subfolders with the little red stop sign on them and select "Get Info". When the info dialog box pops up, go to the bottom and unlock the padlock with your password (you do have system administration rights on your account?). Then, again at the bottom click the "+" box and add your username (list pops up at the top) to the list of authorized users. It will probably add you as "read only", so click on the arrows and change that to "Read & Write". Then on the little "gear" icon at the bottom, click the arrow and select "Apply to enclosed Items". If you also have the option there, also select "Make me the owner". Now, go to finder and see if you can open and read the previously restricted folders and the data files they contain.


Good luck,

-howard

 

[derbothaus]

Why don't you migrate the sensitive data onto another user and try again?

Get the demo of MacKeeper or AppDelete. They will find those parts of VMware, and that could really solve the problem.

First idea great. but...Mackeeper? GTFO! You can't just use 1 "feature".
http://applehelpwriter.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/

This thing KP's pretty much everyone who uses it. POS. And a real pain when a user says they have installed it. Check out the war on Macupdate page. It makes for hilarious reading.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33710/mackeeper
People vs. paid bots.

 

[emjayen84]

I really hope you don't reformat or partition your original disk until you have successfully recovered your data.
Once you have done that ... there will be no possibility for another try! Work on a copy if at all possible, leaving the original as untouched as possible.


You might try this ... right click on the top folder which has the subfolders with the little red stop sign on them and select "Get Info". When the info dialog box pops up, go to the bottom and unlock the padlock with your password (you do have system administration rights on your account?). Then, again at the bottom click the "+" box and add your username (list pops up at the top) to the list of authorized users. It will probably add you as "read only", so click on the arrows and change that to "Read & Write". Then on the little "gear" icon at the bottom, click the arrow and select "Apply to enclosed Items". If you also have the option there, also select "Make me the owner". Now, go to finder and see if you can open and read the previously restricted folders and the data files they contain.


Good luck,

-howard

EDIT

That worked, thanks. Although, choosing my "Newton 2" account (one that works) didn't let me access the folders. I had to choose "Administrators". I don't know why my working account wouldn't work. No one else uses this and I wouldn't have been anything other than admin? At least not on purpose.

 

[hfg]

EDIT

That worked, thanks. Although, choosing my "Newton 2" account (one that works) didn't let me access the folders. I had to choose "Administrators". I don't know why my working account wouldn't work. No one else uses this and I wouldn't have been anything other than admin? At least not on purpose.

You can go to SystemPreferences/Users&Groups and look at your "Newton 2" account to see if the "Allow user to administer this computer" is checked. If not, simply unlock the padlock and check that option to enable it.


-howard

 

[monokakata]

That worked, thanks. Although, choosing my "Newton 2" account (one that works) didn't let me access the folders. I had to choose "Administrators". I don't know why my working account wouldn't work. No one else uses this and I wouldn't have been anything other than admin? At least not on purpose.

In my experience, sometimes the Get Info method doesn't work. I don't know why.

I sometimes get into your kind of problem when I move an internal drive from one Mac Pro to the other, even though the account name and password are the same in both, as is the UID.

A year or more ago -- faced with a bunch of folders I couldn't get into, even though they were mine, and even though I tried everything I could think of in the Get Info pane -- I found this:

http://www.lagentesoft.com/batchmod/index.html

It does work, but as the programmer says, use with caution. It does nothing you can't do through Terminal, but it's a lot easier to use.

I was so happy with it that I sent a donation.

 

[hfg]

It was when the OP mentioned the "little red stop signs" that I realized it probably was "ownership" issues rather than "permissions" problems.

I too run into those problems with my Mac Pro and moving disks around, or moving accounts between disks. You can confuse things pretty quickly.



-howard

 

[emjayen84]

In my experience, sometimes the Get Info method doesn't work. I don't know why.

I sometimes get into your kind of problem when I move an internal drive from one Mac Pro to the other, even though the account name and password are the same in both, as is the UID.

A year or more ago -- faced with a bunch of folders I couldn't get into, even though they were mine, and even though I tried everything I could think of in the Get Info pane -- I found this:

http://www.lagentesoft.com/batchmod/index.html

It does work, but as the programmer says, use with caution. It does nothing you can't do through Terminal, but it's a lot easier to use.

I was so happy with it that I sent a donation.

Thanks for telling me about this software! i'll check it out. So, if there's red stop signs on my folders that are now backed up through Time Machine, they'll still be there when I wipe my HD, install 10.5.8 and do Migration Assistant to restore my files to my disk?

 

[hfg]

Is there some reason you are going back to older operating systems? Once you straighten out the ownership issues, you should be fine with any of the more current versions of OS X.

I am running on a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 (dual 2.8GHz Quad Xeon) here on Mountain Lion 10.8.1 with no problems. I have added additional 16GB ram, upgraded the video several times and currently use a HD 5870, and have SSD drives now and my Mac Pro runs great. For disks I have a RAID-0 SSD boot/applications drive (dual 240GB SSD), and a RAID-0 hard disk for photo, music, video, et. libraries (dual 1TB 7200 rpm drives), plus a small 120GB SSD devoted to Windows 7.

Although I am anxiously awaiting the specs for the next version of a Mac Pro, I certainly can't say I honestly need anything more than this old machine.

 

[emjayen84]

Is there some reason you are going back to older operating systems? Once you straighten out the ownership issues, you should be fine with any of the more current versions of OS X.

I am running on a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 (dual 2.8GHz Quad Xeon) here on Mountain Lion 10.8.1 with no problems. I have added additional 16GB ram, upgraded the video several times and currently use a HD 5870, and have SSD drives now and my Mac Pro runs great. For disks I have a RAID-0 SSD boot/applications drive (dual 240GB SSD), and a RAID-0 hard disk for photo, music, video, et. libraries (dual 1TB 7200 rpm drives), plus a small 120GB SSD devoted to Windows 7.

Although I am anxiously awaiting the specs for the next version of a Mac Pro, I certainly can't say I honestly need anything more than this old machine.

Yeah, like I said before, everytime I try upgrading to 10.6.8, It won't let me use at least one of my accounts. I don't want to take any chances of it happening again. Exact same thing has happened twice, where It freezes at my desktop. I won't even touch Lion as long as I have my Mac Pro. Apple should've just left it at 10.5.8, because i've experienced and heard nothing but problems with these unnecessary new OS updates!

 

[monokakata]

Thanks for telling me about this software! i'll check it out. So, if there's red stop signs on my folders that are now backed up through Time Machine, they'll still be there when I wipe my HD, install 10.5.8 and do Migration Assistant to restore my files to my disk?

I'd guess that they will be. If so, then try the Get Info method, and if that doesn't work, use Batchmod.

 

[GGJstudios]

Get the demo of MacKeeper or AppDelete. They will find those parts of VMware, and that could really solve the problem.

No, they won't. In most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this and this. If you just want to delete the app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other software needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, no removal apps will do the job.

I am stumped. I have no third-party apps installed, except for remnants of VMware (can't find anything on my computer related to it, but still gives me the VM logo in top bar)

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

Also, delete any occurrences of unnecessary apps from the following locations:

• System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items
  (Lion and ML users: System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items)
  
  
• /Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• /Library/StartupItems/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)