Stuck in Darwin / Can't get into OS X Finder

If nothing else has succeeded, then an Archive and Install is your only alternative:

How to Perform an Archive and Install

An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.

1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.

Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.

3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.

4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.

5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.

6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.

Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.

If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!

If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates.

May even need to do an *Archive and Install* if you have room on the HD...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

I only use Software Update to see what is needed, then get them for real via...

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

Rob Bro wrote:
1. I have tried Michael Conniff's fix with the Single User Mode, and I got the Setup Assistant, went thru the directions had absolutely no problems. Walk in the park. However when I rebooted the computer I went back into Darwin. sigh

Sorry to hear that. What did you see in system.log that made you think my fix might work?

Another way to get around it applesetupdone...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6059333&#6059333

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/howdo_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_rootpassword.html

This was Posted by: JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM

"OK, restart your computer, hold down Command-s and type in the following:
/sbin/fsck -fy Enter
/sbin/mount -uaw Enter
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone Enter

1. The rm command is the remove command which deletes the file.
2. Robert: I'd rename the file via: mv /var/db/.applesetupdone /var/db/.applesetupdone.old

reboot Enter

Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!
end of posted by: JoseAranda"

BD
That's precisely what he has tried, working from an old post of mine.

Rob

The procedure you tried used to work perfectly in 10.3, but was not so brilliant in 10.4. You are posting in the Tiger forum, so I assumed you were using 10.4, but your profile says 10.5. If this is the case, my method definitely won't work, since there is no NetInfo database in Leopard.

Anyway, here's something I posted some time last year:

I'm sorry that rebuilding the NetInfo database didn't work for you. Unfortunately this is less reliable under 10.4 — I don't know why, there seem to be more reasons for the "AuthorizationRef doesn't have a username" message now, including SecurityAgent crashing.

For the moment, the best advice I can offer is to perform an Archive & Install:
Mac OS X : About the Archive and Install Feature.

This has helped others when resetting NetInfo didn't work.

I know in your first post you said "I am trying not to do an Archive and Install", but in the circumstances it is your best bet. You should be able to rescue all your documents without a problem.