BJ Zorn
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Macbook Pro OS 10.8.5 multiuser login loop.

My Macbook Pro mid-2010 running Mountain Lion 10.8.5 suddenly would not allow any user to login.  The system boots successfully to the login the login screen.  I have 2 users on the window a User with Admin rights and a regular user.  When I enter the password for either user the it appears to be working with the spinning colored ball and then the grey gear like thing. Then it goes to a white/greyish screen and then returns to the login screen again.  I researched and found lots of info for with a similar problem (the problem only affected one user on the Mac) but nothing for 10.8.5.  I have booted into Safe Mode but the problem remained the same.  I ran disk utility from recovery drive with no problems.  Booted into single user and ran fsck -fy until it said ok.  Removed the caches in /Library and /System/Library but nothing has worked.   Any othe suggestions?

Posted on Aug 6, 2016 5:51 PM

Close
BJ Zorn

Q: Macbook Pro OS 10.8.5 multiuser login loop.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 7, 2016 7:59 AM in response to BJ Zorn
    Level 9 (69,659 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 7, 2016 7:59 AM in response to BJ Zorn

    Restart the computer holding down the command - option/alt - P - R keys before the gray screen appears. Continue to hold until you hear the startup chime for the second time.

                                    

    Reset NVRAM/PRAM

     

    Try a SMC reset. The article covers when this is required, but doing this will not affect anything.

     

    Reset SMC

  • by BJ Zorn,

    BJ Zorn BJ Zorn Aug 7, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 7, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Eric Root

    II had already reset the NVRAM but not the SMC. I'll try that a see what happens

  • by BJ Zorn,

    BJ Zorn BJ Zorn Aug 7, 2016 12:59 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 7, 2016 12:59 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks, Eric but this did not help. I reset the SMC and reset the NVRAM again. And just for good measure did both of them again. I still get returned to the login screen for both of my users.  Any other ideas? I trying to think about this logically with the login screen coming up, it seems the system launchd loaded but what comes next. I'm not sure what else to look at.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 8, 2016 8:36 AM in response to BJ Zorn
    Level 9 (69,659 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 8, 2016 8:36 AM in response to BJ Zorn

    Do you have FileVault enabled? If so, you have to sign in twice, but then it should sign in.

     

    Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair Disk and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.

     

    OS X Recovery

     

    OS X Recovery (2)

  • by BJ Zorn,

    BJ Zorn BJ Zorn Aug 9, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 9, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Eric Root

    Reinstalling the OS was the route I had to take. I had actually done that the night before your response. I was sure there was nothing with my hard drive. I had run disk utility and fsck -fy to start out with. Thanks for your assistance. I personally hate having to reinstall and lose the oportunity to understand what actually went wrong, but glad to hav my MacBook Pro up and running again.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 9, 2016 8:12 AM in response to BJ Zorn
    Level 9 (69,659 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 9, 2016 8:12 AM in response to BJ Zorn

    You are welcome.