In a fix

[hart at nasw.org]

Thanks Albert and Dave.

Here's what I'm pretty sure happened. I switched from the 
type-your-login name login screen to the list-of-login names screen. 
The original problem, remember, was that I couldn't delete one empty 
account.

I now think the account was damaged in some way.

Now the iBook starts up normally until it gets to the point where it's 
supposed to present the login dialog, then doesn't show any dialog. I 
think it's hanging as it tries to access the database of users. So I 
can't get to the Finder to do anything.

Here's what I *can* do:

See the machine once it's at the frozen point on the ethernet LAN.
Start up in target mode and see the machine on the FireWire chain.
Strangely, get to a command line mode. Here's how:
In the blank (striped) screen, I click the mouse. Then I type the login 
name and password. It switches to command line, with white characters 
on black background. It asks for and accepts a login name. It asks for 
and accepts a password.

If I type reboot, it reboots normally, except it still gets hung up at 
the login dialog. If I type exit, it logs out, and I'm back where I 
started. Exit is supposed to allow the machine to continue to load 
Aqua, I thought.

I'll call AppleCare in a few minutes. I think I need to get talked 
through deleting the database of users, which I think got damaged.

I have everything backed up, so it's more of a frustration than 
anything else.

BTW, I have run repair permissions, Repair, DiskWarrior and the 10.2.6 
combo updater with no results, so there's nothing wrong with the basic 
system.

Stephen Hart
http://eugraph.com