Blue Screen when logging on as >console

[DanHW]

Hey, MacOSXHints geniuses,

A bunch of the hints on the main site include logging in as ">console" rather than as a named user, to get a GUI-less console. But whenever I try this, I get a plain blue screen, without so much as a prompt. The cursor is visible, but there's nothing to click, and typing doesn't do anything.

Please help!

If it matters:
-I'm running 10.3.3 with the latest security patches.
-I'm running on a Powerbook G4/400.
-I have root enabled.

Thanks in advance!

[DanHW]

I forgot to mention: I don't get a login prompt first. Type ">console", hit Enter, and bam--blue screen.

[DanHW]

Never mind, the problem seems to have gone away on its own.

[georgeocrawford]

I had this same thing a week ago. Haven't tried it again, as I wasn't getting anywhere.

Can someone explain what we did wrong?

[trevor]

Just go to System Preferences > Sharing > Services tab > uncheck "Apple Remote Desktop". Then your >console user will again work.

Trevor

[georgeocrawford]

aah - a nice positive-sounding solution. Thanks Trev.

[georgeocrawford]

Um, except it was unchecked already. I have used ARD in the past, but not recently.

Any more ideas?

[trevor]

The >console user does not work with fast user switching, so if you've got anyone other than >console logged in, log them out.

Trevor

[georgeocrawford]

nope, this was from the login screen after a reboot. No other users logged in.

[trevor]

If that still doesn't solve your problem, go look in your /var/log/system.log for a message added at the exact same time you attempted to log in to the >console user. (If you don't know the exact time, attempt to log in to >console now, reboot and check your system.log.) One way to look at your system log is to open your Terminal and type cat /var/log/system.log

Folks who have ARD switched on and attempt to use >console get the following error message:

Apr 28 11:38:33 localhost /System/Library/CoreServices/ARD Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARD Agent: ********Launched Agent********
Apr 28 11:38:43 localhost loginwindow[478]: Login authorization failed (-60006)!
Apr 28 11:38:43 localhost loginwindow[478]: exiting to console


If you have something else switched on that disagrees with >console, you will probably get a similar error message.

Trevor

[georgeocrawford]

Apr 29 00:33:38 localhost loginwindow[1642]: Login authorization failed (-60006)! 
Apr 29 00:33:38 localhost loginwindow[1642]: exiting to console 
Apr 29 00:35:04 localhost syslogd: restart

That's it! The lines before that were just me logging out. No ARD running or enabled, no Fast User Switching enabled.

[trevor]

Sorry, in that case I'm pretty much out of ideas. Maybe try an Archive and Install?

Trevor

[yellow]

I decided to give this a whirl and ran into the same wall. Blue screen.

[sao]

I don't know if it will help you, but you could try the following:

To be able to start the latest release from XFree86-4.4 after login from ">console" in "Panther" I was adviced to:

Copy all the files in /System/Library/Keyboards from a "Jaguar" installation.

or to

Download all the keymapping files individually from here. (Most people will want USA.keymapping)

and put them in /Library/Keyboards as they are no longer part of Apple's official system and also that way future updates won't remove them again.

PS: The problem was that Apple had removed the .keymapping files from /System/Library/Keyboards/ that were there in Jaguar and earlier.

Now, I can login from ">console" in Panther and start XFree86-4.4 with no problems (It doesn't work with Apple's X11).

[blb]

What's weird here is the meaning of -60006;
From /System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Headers/Authorization.h:

Quote: errAuthorizationCanceled -60006 The authorization was cancelled by the user

[georgeocrawford]

well I suppose I did cancel it - after 30 seconds of staring at a blue screen. It's weird - the pointer works as normal, but nothing happens.

[sao]

.

From a post by "Jordan K. Hubbard" at the darwinos-users list on Feb 26, 2004:
------------

"I probably should have come in earlier with this. >console is broken
in Panther. The window server now gets launched on demand and even if
LoginWindow doesn't launch it, it gets launched by other things, so it
gloms onto your display and prevents you from getting the Window Server
out of the way as you used to be able to do. We'll have to investigate
ways of resurrecting >console (assuming people really really still want
it) in 10.4".

Jordan K. Hubbard
Engineering Manager, BSD technology group
Apple Computer

------------


Anyhow, this is what I do to login in ">console" in Panther:

In /Applications/System Preferences, item "Accounts", thumbnail "Login Options" click on "Name and password".

Then, on the next reboot, in the username I type ">console" without the quotes and then, the Enter key.

'>console' then works OK if I just came up from "reboot", otherwise it always ends in a "WindowServer blue screen".

Then to start XFree86-4.4 I run: (works for me in MacOSX 10.3.3)

startx -- -iokit -fakebuttons -keymap /Volumes/NagualX/Library/Keyboards/USA.keymapping

[yellow]

Sao, you rock.

[toftsie]

I have an Xserve with a video card on backorder, so I'm using ADR to do admin functions. I did the 10.3.4 server update and got this same problem...blue screen on login. I can't access those folders you referenced if I can't login. can I do that through the terminal or is there another way?

Help!

[rjvbertin]

Quote: Originally Posted by blb What's weird here is the meaning of -60006; From /System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Headers/Authorization.h:

I also get this message, on my SO's 12" PB. The weird thing is that it happens when a shutdown is requested from the loginwindow. Just after the -60006, ATSServer gets a fatal error (status: -4) while processing a message (id: 7) from that same loginwindow process.

Any ideas? Disk verification, permissions repair and cache cleaning all had no effect.

The result is that after the 1st shutdown request, there is a blue screen for some (short) time, then the loginwindow reappears, and the next shutdown request works like a charm. When booted in verbose mode, there is a message from INITProcesses, complaining it cannot connect to the WindowServer visible at the blue screen.