DivX Redux
An old problem that we think could have been solved by reading MacFixIt.
We were surprised to receive this note from a reader today:
... The computer boots, and every time an administrator username and password is entered at the GUI login, the console login screen appears. The password I enter to the login screen seems irrelevant, as whatever I type in causes the console login screen.
Examining the logs reveals that SecurityAgent and kextcache have crashed with kernel protection failures.
Interestingly, normal users without administrator privilege can login without trouble. So in order to see whether the current administrator account has a problem with it, I logged in as normal user, added another administrator user via authenticating as the current administrator. That new administrator account now exhibits the same problems discussed above for the GUI login.
The surprise is not that this is happening, but that it is still happening. This is an old problem, which first surfaced after the Security Update 2007-004. There seems to be no reason to think that the solution established at that time would not work now: the problem was caused by misbehavior of a QuickTime component, whether from Elgato Systems or elsewhere, and can be fixed by removing or updating the troublesome components.
Readers are reminded that the MacFixIt Web site, for all its faults, does have a search function that is quick and comprehensive. We're glad that readers enjoyed our "problem that just won't die" article from yesterday, but problems really won't die if you don't take the steps necessary to fix them.
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