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Level 1

16 points

BLUE SCREEN freeze, fixing after Leopard install

I thought I would post this for Mac users who may be having startup problems after installing Leopard. Please note, I will not pass myself off as an expert, just a normal Joe trying to get my Mac going.

I used a combination of advice after reading the discussions myself for about an hour. My personal opinion is that there is a glitch in the install software that does not allow the computer to log in to the user correctly after the Leopard install. Here is my step by step fix for my problem.

•Start the affected computer up in Target Disc Mode via Firewire cable to a working Mac.

•Navigate into the affected Mac's drive after it appears on the host Mac's desktop and delete the following 2 files:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple/loginwindow.plist
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist

I am going to guess that if you have more than one user, you will need to delete all the users loginwindow.plist

•Empty the trash can.

•Push and hold the power button on the affected Mac until it shuts down. After shutdown, unplug the firewire cable, then restart the affected Mac.

•Be patient. It takes a little time to start up.

•If this does not solve your problem, then go through the Target Disc Mode process again and delete these files if you can find them:

/Library/Preference Panes/Application Enhancer.prefpane
/Library/Frameworks/Application Enhancer.framework
/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Application Enhancer.bundle
/Library/Preferences/com.unsanity.ape.plist

•Empty the trash can.

•Power down the affected Mac, disconnect the firewire cable, restart the Mac. Don't be surprised if it takes quite a while for the Mac to index the files after startup.

Good Luck.

•Please be sure to post your success or lack of success so others can benefit from the advice.

A WISH TO THANK EVERYBODY WHO CONTRIBUTES TO THE DISCUSSIONS. YOUR ADVICE IS INVALUABLE, AND AT TIMES HAS SAVED MY U KNOW WHAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. -JA

PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Oct 26, 2007 9:25 PM

79 replies

Oct 27, 2007 4:55 AM in response to Serendipity1

This didn't work for me, I don't have the Application Enhancer stuff installed. I'm trying to install on an iMac G5 and having done an archive and install I boot to the logon screen but as soon as I click on an account I get the spinning beachball and cannot do anything else, I've left it as long as three hours with no luck. I can see the iMac shares from my MB and can browse them. Any ideas?

Oct 27, 2007 5:13 AM in response to Serendipity1

Just wanted to chime in that in another thread some of us are discovering the DIVX preference files are causing a similar problem to the APE files. A simple renaming of the DIVX preference rescued my machine and several others.

Here is the thread: good luck to everyone:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1197076&tstart=0

Oct 27, 2007 10:48 AM in response to Serendipity1

Fixed problem 🙂 !!!!!!!! Target disk Mode is easy. Just plug in fire wire to another computer and restart computer holding down the T key. Once the fire wire symbol shows up, your in on the other computer.

I found that deleting the first set of files for user name and login was unnecessary... it was only the second set of files dealing with "Application Enhancer" that needed to be deleted.

Otherwise, my install went flawless. I knew to search the support threads right away, and wasted no time at all in fixing this. Thanks all!

Message was edited by: Gone with the Wind

Message was edited by: Gone with the Wind

Serendipity1 Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 27, 2007 10:59 AM in response to Gone with the Wind

Great! Another Mac back on the course.

I just wanted to follow up after working through the night with other units....I am in agreement that the second set of files is the MAIN culprit, and the login file problems are more random and less likely.

So, deleting these files first may be the best action first...

Cheers-J

Eric W.

Community Manager

Oct 27, 2007 11:14 AM in response to Serendipity1

From the forums, it seems like most users are seeing this issue after installation if they have Application Enhancer (APE) installed on their Tiger system. Is anyone seeing this issue that was not previously using APE?

If you are in this situation, it may be beneficial to boot up in Verbose mode (Command-V) to see where the boot process is hanging.

Dulle

Level 1

10 points

Oct 27, 2007 12:41 PM in response to Serendipity1

Thanks, thanks
I had to go through the 2 steps before my MPB showed me "the sky is the limit" desktop.
Congratulations for the Apple user community and shame on you Apple...a serious "black hole" in the confidence that I had since 1983 ( Apple II )

Oct 27, 2007 1:06 PM in response to Serendipity1

I have the same problem as everyone else. Im upgrading to Leopard from Tiger WITH APPLICATION ENHANCER and have gotten the blue screen 3 times now.
Im reinstalling, but chose the "Archive and Install" option. Will this help at all or am I wasting time?
I do not know how to get rid of those Application Enhancer files without going into Target Disc mode.

Serendipity1 Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 27, 2007 1:35 PM in response to Robert Tassaro1

Actually, I think quite a few people have had to revert to that option, and have had some luck with it.

Most people who are stuck with the option of eliminating the problem files are there because they do not have enough room on their hard drive for the archive and install. And going with a clean install by erasing the drive is not an option at this point as they do not want to lose their data.

Of course, if a backup is done before trying the upgrade, the data loss issue is not as critical, but how many times have we all put ourselves in this predicament before learning the ropes on a computer.....it is just a bad part of life. It happens.

So, if you have the spare room and can try the archive and install option, I think you will be pleased with the results. After the past two days, I won't make any promises.

Kunyo

Level 1

0 points

Oct 27, 2007 1:38 PM in response to Serendipity1

Thank you so much! Your instructions were incredibly easy, and my computer is running Leopard just fine now!

empeders

Level 1

0 points

Oct 27, 2007 2:00 PM in response to Serendipity1

Hello,

It worked perfectly for me also. As other people on the list I had to complete also step 2 before it worked.

A big thank you to everybody on this list who has contributed to solving this problem.

Best regards

Emil

Oct 27, 2007 2:44 PM in response to Ian Patterson

Ian Patterson wrote:

Also note that if you don't have another Mac to Target Disk with, you can do this same operation via single-user mode (command-S when booting) if you have a little experience with the command line interface. That's what I did.

I booted into single user and got a 'read only file system' message when I tried to delete the loginwindow.plist... I really didn't expect to have to go through this with a Macintosh and am more than a little tempted to return X and purchase it at some future date when it's working properly.

Eric W.

Community Manager

Oct 27, 2007 3:54 PM in response to Serendipity1

FYI, there is an article posted about this now as well. Big thanks to all the users who helped to identify this and have been helping others.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306857

JadedEye

Level 1

40 points

Oct 27, 2007 4:37 PM in response to Serendipity1

FYI, Apple has released a Login / Keychain fix, so you aren't wrong about the Login issues, they simpy are not consistent across machines

Serendipity1 Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 27, 2007 5:16 PM in response to Eric W.

I am glad to see something posted "officially" by Apple in regards to the "command line process" to remove application enhancement software.

I am sure this will be a great help to those who don't have a second Mac they can TDM (Target Disc Mode) to. I will re-iterate it is still easier to TDM and remove the files if you are not comfortable with code. So if you do have a second Mac, TDM may still be your best option. Directions for that are posted at the beginning of this thread.

I did have had an issue with my son's Mac where the login prefs had to be deleted as well so that the computer would start correctly, but I think this is a very isolated case, and most likely does not affect a great number of Mac users.

Here is the Apple link for those interested:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306857

Best of luck to all of you still dealing with the blue screen issue. Hopefully, you will be back up and going soon.

Oct 27, 2007 5:43 PM in response to Robert Tassaro1

Get rid of Application Enhancer.... this is preferable over doing the archive/install which will not preserve all of your settings and application installations.

BLUE SCREEN freeze, fixing after Leopard install