Fix the GlowWorm Blue Screen of Death/No Boot/No User Login Window
February 13, 2008 – 7:56 pmby Jake D
This goes over my experience with GlowWorm.app causing a boot error in Mac OS 10.5.1 Leopard, and what I did that fixed it.
Symptoms
- You just installed GlowWorm.app
- Your computer will not boot (or not reach the login window, but the mouse appears) in normal mode
- You can boot into safe mode
- You can boot into single user mode
The quick answer: boot into “safe mode” and run the GlowWorm unistaller.app and disable firewall; reboot.
Problem Summary
After installing GlowWorm.app from the Apple Downloads page, my MacBook would not boot, or it would boot up to the blue screen that appears just before the login window (when the mouse appears), but no login window would appear.
The Whole Story
I was browsing Apple’s Downloads and downloaded a program called GlowWorm FW Lite. After I installed it (and during which it required my admin password) I think I started to run it. GlowWorm.app told me that there was an update and I think that I told it to upgrade. There was some popup that asked if I wanted to allow something to accept incoming connections… but I said “Deny”. For some reason (not sure if it was related to GlowWorm), I had to restart my computer. When my MacBook started to boot, it got as far the blue screen where the mouse appears. The next thing that I expected was the login window, but it never came.
I tried all of the things you can do according to the Apple Support Page (tried again, reset PRAM, selected a startup disk, etc) to no avail. I was able to boot into Safe Mode (hold shift as the computer is turned on and hold until the apple logo appears and the progress wheel starts spinning) and backup my documents. While in safe mode, I deleted GlowWorm.app to the trash and then emptied the trash. I used spotlight to look for any files called glowworm, but there were no results so I restarted.Same problem.So I went back into safe mode and looked where another Apple support article suggested that there might be a problem,
/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/ApplicationEnhancer.bundle
but there was nothing in that folder.
I remembered that earlier I was asked to either Allow or Deny something to accept incoming connections, so I opened up my System Preferences -> Security -> Firewall. At the bottom of my “Set access for specific services and applications” list, I found that service (I don’t remember what it was, but it did start with a “Q”) and took it off of the list. Because Safe Mode takes forever to boot, to be safe I also disabled the firewall by selecting the “Allow all incoming connections” radio button.
Then I thought it was odd that the GlowWorm.app didn’t have any support files when I looked earlier. It turns out, there is an app called uninstall.app located in
/Library/Application Support/glowworm/utilities/
I ran that and the traces of GlowWorm appeared to be gone. I rebooted and this time the login window appeared.
As I mentioned, I changed a few things before rebooting (firewall settings and installing), so I am not sure what the actual problem was, only that what I did seemed to fix the problem. Normally I might try to reproduce this error, but I don’t feel like flirting with the kind of danger that prevents my mac from booting.
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25 Responses to “Fix the GlowWorm Blue Screen of Death/No Boot/No User Login Window”
thanks a lot, you saved my day.
YOU saved my life! The solution is as easy as you described:
uninstall.app located in
/Library/Application Support/glowworm/utilities/
and my beloved Macbook runs again without troubles.
Thanks a lot, wish you a nice weekend.
wow. this thing ruined my computer.
good article.
Tks very much !
GlowWorm sucks.
Thanks, what a piece of crap program. I love how they make fun of Little Snitch, yet Little Snitch didnt waste 2 hours of my time.
Thanks so much. Had hard problems getting into Safe Mode (don’t know why, but the login window was missing in safe mode as well), but then this helped.
Thank you i panicing, i noticed that my mac is running a little slower since the problem, anyone now how to get it back to speed?
All that I can say is THANK YOU!
I installed GlowWorm on my MacBook about two days ago, and low-and-behold, it killed it within seconds of launching (Started the app, it hung for a few seconds, and while I was browsing through my documents, I got the ‘busy’ cursor, and the whole thing froze. Today, by following your instructions in safe mode, I was able to fix the problem. I will not lie, I was at the point that I was going to hard-wipe the HDD, and start over fresh. You have saved me from having to do that, and all of my school-work.
Thank-you VERY much!
-David Aldridge
Thank you, now can I fix this terrible BUG
Thanks. You saved my life. Someone should sue GlowWorm creators.
Lifesaver. Totally agree with the comments, GlowWorm on Mac Os X is serious crapware.
Went out and bought Little Snitch after going through this disaster. Just out of sympathy for NOT publishing “killer-software”, so to speak, without a word of warning.
GLOW WORM SUCKS!!! DO NOT INSTALL IT EVER!!!
I think the best thing these guys do is developpint the uninstall program !! this is not an APP this is a virus !!
I couldnt reboot in safe mode – got stuck as well.
SOLUTION (_that_worked_for_me):
goto
http://osx.iusethis.com/app/glowwormfw
and look for lukeskywalkers comment.
Basically it comes down to removing the kernel-extension that glowworm uses.
you are a Legend!
Never GlowWorm again, I will buy Little Snitch
None of these seemed to be working for me because I went about it the wrong way before finding this wonderful article, but I did fix it in a similar way to Rico.
I knew Glowworm was the problem and stupidly dragged Glowworm to the trash instead of uninstalling it with the installer. I tried the method Rico suggested but it wasn’t working, quite possibly because I messed it up in some way.
However, by booting up in Safe Mode (holding down shift after the tone), I was able to remove the kernel via the Finder.
Sytem/Library/Extensions/Glowworm.kext
Delete that file and you’re good to go, though you might see the blue screen for a few seconds before the log in screen.
Guys
You saved my ilife, thanks a lot! It worked like for Vinny.
Hat off
Dado
I shouldn’t have made that last statement, my computer is now fixed, i should have done my research before, please delete aformentioned post.
Just Thank You!
Hat off!
Thank you very much for helping us with that issue.
Best, Tim
thank you very much i tried everything. i reinstalled osx and everything. i backed everything up in safe mode so i wouldn’t loose anything. it ran fine until i resored with time machine. then the problem came back with it. thanks agian.
You are my Hero