Can't get out of Setup Assistant

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Level 1

20 points

Can't get out of Setup Assistant

I installed Leopart on a G5. I rebooted and the Setup Assistant came up. I filled out the info and at the end it said "Don't forget to register". I clicked done, the computer paused and restarted the Setup Assistant. I can't get out of it. It won't let me "force quit" application; if I select quit, it just freezes. Any ideas on how to use this computer again?

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 30, 2007 12:41 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MarkDouma®

Level 6

9,881 points

Dec 17, 2007 10:15 PM in response to Niftyix

Do the following if you repeatedly startup into Setup Assistant:

1) Restart or force-shutdown your Mac. If your Mac supports it, press the reset button to restart the Mac. Otherwise, hold the power button down for 10 seconds until the Mac shuts down.

2) Turn your Mac on by pressing the power button, and then immediately hold down Command-S to start up in "single user mode". You should see white text displayed on a black background. (This may seem a bit scary; don't worry, we'll try to keep this as brief as possible).

3) Since we most likely had to force the Mac to shut down, we first want to check the hard drive to make sure it's okay. To do that type the following at the prompt and then type return:

<pre>/sbin/fsck -fy</pre>

Note that there is a space between the "k" of fsck, and the "-" of -fy.

You should see text similar to the text that's displayed when you check your hard drive with Disk Utility's "Verify Disk" command.

Once it's finished checking and repairing the drive if necessary, we need to mount the drive in "read-write" mode so that we can make changes to it. To do that, we type the following at the prompt and hit return:

<pre>/sbin/mount -uw /</pre>

Note that there is a space between "/sbin/mount" and "-uw", and a space between "-uw" and the slash "/".

4) Now that we've mounted the hard drive, we need to rename the two files that are causing the Setup Assistant program to load at startup. By renaming them, we'll make sure that OS X doesn't see them once we restart. The files are named ".SoftwareUpdateAtLogout" and ".SoftwareUpdateOptions". We will rename them by removing the period, "." from the beginning of the filename. To rename the first file, type the following at the prompt and press return:

<pre>mv /private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateAtLogout /private/var/db/SoftwareUpdateAtLogout</pre>

Note that there is a space between "mv" and "/private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateAtLogout", and a space between "/private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateAtLogout" and "/private/var/db/SoftwareUpdateAtLogout".

Then, to rename the second file, type the following at the prompt and press return:

<pre>mv /private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateOptions /private/var/db/SoftwareUpdateOptions</pre>

Note that there is a space between "mv" and "/private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateOptions", and a space between "/private/var/db/.SoftwareUpdateOptions" and "/private/var/db/SoftwareUpdateOptions".

5) Now that we've renamed the files, we need to restart your Mac normally. To do that, type the following at the prompt and press return:

<pre>restart</pre>

Your Mac should now start up normally. If you still need to install updates, try downloading the stand-alone versions from Apple's site rather than using Software Update.

Hope this helps....

Message was edited by: MarkDouma®

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Answer 2

Oct 30, 2007 2:27 PM in response to dc_mac

I had the same issue (how scary was that). I was afraid the issue had to do with three items I had just installed from Software Update. Having found this thread (thank you), I started into safe mode; it asked me to log in (I have that typically bypassed, so that was odd), and then went into Setup Asst. I was able to quit it this time, tried logging in again, but back into Setup Asst. I quit again, and this time restarted.

Then I saw progress bars for the items that had been installed from Software Update. That completed, and the system restarted (?) by itself.

At that, it came back "normally", no need to log in or anything like that. Looks OK. I shut down then restarted just for superstition's sake. Started back OK, even mounted my shared volumes without a hiccup.

So thanks above. I gotta say, tho, I've had upgrade glitches, but was this frakking weird or what?

Oh, and the Finder is just totally gorgeous....

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Answer 3

dc_mac

Level 1

5 points

Oct 30, 2007 12:46 PM in response to Niftyix

We ran into something similar, try booting into safe mode by holding down shift once the system loads you will be put back into Setup Assistant, got to the Setup Assistant menu and quit. Once you have quit that reboot the system. You may have to go through setup assistant again but it should allow you through.
Good Luck.
A

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Answer 4

Nov 5, 2007 2:13 PM in response to dc_mac

THANK YOU

This worked for me. I've spent several hours on the phone with support and got no resolution from them. Was on the verge of returning Leopard for a refund as have now re-installed 6 times and run back into this loop each time. Hopefully won't have to now. Maybe support should look at this forum for answers.

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Answer 5

Nov 9, 2007 9:47 AM in response to Niftyix

i have been using the macbook for several weeks using Tiger.
i installed leopard a couple of weeks ago without any problem (it does sem a little buggy but that is the subject from another post)

a couple of days ago, after trying to restart for installation of a couple of Apple upgrades, it went into setup Assistant SA.

1. I have gone through all the questions of the SA -- it starts again from the first screen of SA
2. I have booted in safe mode several times, when i quit, SA it starts again
3. in safe mode none of the choices from the Apple menu respond (even About this Mac), so I cannot restart from safe mode. I can only turn the computer off (by pressing button) and then start again. The SA returns.
4. I have verified the disk from another computer - it passes verification
5. all my files seem to be there (I have copied all 80G to an external disk, just in case)
6. no response to option-apple-esc

7. ANY ADVICE??
...

I cannot reinstall leopard because I´m travelling and forgot to bring the OS disk. Here nobody has leopard yet and I hesitate to return to a previous version.

Moral: never install a new version of anything too soon, before a trip, a deadline, etc. I knew that. Do I listen to my own advice? perhaps next time.

My next try: install Tiger on external disk and boot my machine from that. That should allow me to continue working.

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Answer 6

alpa

Level 1

0 points

Dec 18, 2007 12:11 AM in response to MarkDouma®

Thanks. This hint was very helpful. I used a slightly method. Instead of booting the G5 in single-user mode, since I have SSHD enabled on my G5, I ssh into it and renamed those two files. Obviously, you need a second computer in order to do this.

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Answer 7

sparky67

Level 2

421 points

Dec 18, 2007 1:24 PM in response to MarkDouma®

MarkDouma® wrote:

<pre>restart</pre>

Your Mac should now start up normally. If you still need to install updates, try downloading the stand-alone versions from Apple's site rather than using Software Update.

Hope this helps....

Your suggestion worked great! Thank-you for posting such clear directions.

However, "restart" kept giving me a "command not found" error.

I just had to type "reboot" instead.

Now what is Apple doing about this? All I did was follow the normal software update procedure. I'm not a Mac newbie but never have I seen the Software Update program create such a problem.

Does anyone know what causes this anomaly?

Message was edited by: sparky67

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Answer 8

Studybug

Level 1

0 points

Feb 28, 2008 1:43 AM in response to MarkDouma®

Mark,

You are a hero. I have 3 assignments due tomorrow and have wasted hours trying to get through the Leopard setup. Stupid me for trying to upgrade the day before assignments are due - I should know better than that! Thank you for saving my ***!

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