Hi All OS X.2.3, Dual 800 G4, heaps of ram.
Bit of a long story, but to keep it short, yesterday while working in FCP everything suddenly went into 'go slow' mode. I quit the program, thinking this might help. While I was on the desktop, I decided to move some files to the trash, only to find that the whole system was moving like tar. I have never had this problem before, but could find no reason for it - ie no programs open, nothing (apart from broadband) actually working in the background, plenty of room left on all drives So I shut down, thinking it might give the computer a chance to clear it's head, so to speak.
When I restarted, I was faced with two empty blue screens. This has happened to me before, and I have had to re install the system to fix it as I was under the pump to get a job finished, but this time there is no rush, so I thought I would investigate further.
So I decided to log out in order to log in as a different user to see if it was 'user specific'. Suddenly there is a whole new user in my list of users called "Other..", with an icon I have never seen before. Trying to log on under this user asks for a name and password, which none of my regular combinations work on .. hmm.
I logged back in as me, and went looking for this other user. I imagine I am just being paranoid, and its probably some weird keystroke combination I have accidentally hit, but I can't find the "Other.." user anywhere. If it is any help, the icon shows a 'user' silhouette, with a swirly blue 'network' background.
Next step, check for this "Other.." unit in the privilege list of my drives. Its not there, but the list is a lot shorter than normal, and most of the drives have been set to give 'no access' to both my user and admin setups. I reset them.
Meantime, I am looking at my broadband modem and wondering why the lights are flickering when I am not doing anything. Could I possibly be exposing my system to the net 24/7?
Um, since this 'short story' is getting long .. cut to : jaguar install disk > reset password > and in here there is the option "sshd Privilege Separation (sshd)". I don't remember this from last time - although probably I wasn't looking last time.
Does anyone have any idea about this "Other.." user and the 'privilege separation'(including the fact that privileges were changed in my drives)? Is it just a glitch or is it possible that I have (had) a visitor? What can I do to stop this happening again? I have had the 'blue screens' about four times since I bought the system - and although it doesn't scare me witless anymore, it is annoying.
Thanks for your time :) Jude
