MacOS login question

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Hopefully someone can help me with this...I have scanned past messages and haven't found any help...

So, last night my macbook pro simply shut off on me. When I tried to restart, it would get to the gray screen with the apple icon and whirly timer but it wouldn't go beyond that. It felt quite hot to the touch (on the bottom near the battery) so I decided to let it cool overnight.

This morning I started it up and it loaded to my login screen (brushed metal background with the password bar) normally. I entered my password and it seemed to accept it. Then, it went to a grey screen and simply returned to the login screen.

I have tried multiple times...I also attempted to enter a null password (didn't work) and a previous password (didn't work), and then a completely incorrect password (didn't work). Each time I put in these incorrect passwords, the bar shakes as it does when an incorrect password is used. It does not do this when I put in the correct password.

Any idea as to what's going on?
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Which MacBook Pro do you have; year and model? And what version of OS X is it running?
 
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Macbook Pro 13". Purchased in Dec of 2010. I believe I have 10.6.8 or something along those lines.
 

chscag

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OK. Try booting the machine with your Snow Leopard install DVD. Insert the DVD, reboot and hold down the C key as soon as you hear the chime. If the machine boots from the DVD, skip the install and instead select Utilities from the top menu. Then select Disk Utility. Highlight your hard drive on the left, go to the First Aid tab on the right side and select Verify and Repair. Let's see what it says.
 
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chas_m

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Here's what I believe has happened:

1. The "sudden shut off" was caused by overheating. That's what a Mac does if it gets so hot that it endangers the processor. What caused that, I can't say.

2. If the machine was writing to the directory at the moment that it shut off completely, you have a corrupted directory. This would explain why you can't get past the login screen. DiskWarrior can fix that, but it's $100.

3. That your hard drive can be seen (even if not repaired) is a good sign for your data, which is probably okay. If you have a local AASP around (service provider), I would have them try DW on it and see if that doesn't fix things up.

4. If you have a Time Machine backup from that day, you might want to consider just wiping the boot drive and restoring from the TM backup.
 

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