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Can’t login even the password is correct.. Please Help!

irock101

irock101

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 26, 2011
362
59
Hey,
I just tried to use one of those Razer gaming keyboards with my MacBook. I downloaded their software, restarted the MacBook (the one in my signature) and when I wanted to login, it wouldn’t accept my password.
I unplugged the keyboard, typed the password on the laptop keyboard, still no luck.

A few more tries and still nothing.. then finally found out how to get into recovery mode. Tried to recover my Mac but it won’t let me re-install MacOS because there is ‘no user with admin rights’ (some message like that).

So basically my MBA M1 is a brick right now. At this point I just want to re-install and then restore some files from backup.
I can’t delete the partition of the hard drive in order to re-install MacOS because I have no admin rights..

Made at an appointment at the Genius Bar but the earliest appointment is in 3 days from now.. I hope someone here can help me.
 
I checked the keyboard language settings so that wasn’t the issue either. Still trying to sort this out or finding a way to re-install MacOS and get a time machine backup on it.
 
Thank you! Unfortunately FileVault is enabled and it won’t take my password either..
 
irock101 said:
Thank you! Unfortunately FileVault is enabled and it won’t take my password either..
Click to expand...
Did you try the steps I linked to?

Shut down your MacBook Air (M1, 2020).
Press and hold the power button (Touch ID) until the screen says "Loading startup options".
Choose Options, then click Continue.
If you're prompted for an admin password, choose "Forgot all passwords?". If you're prompted to authenticate with your Apple ID, do so to continue.
You should now see a window with four options: Restore from Time Machine, Install macOS, Safari, Disk Utility. Don't choose any of these; instead, go to the menu bar at the top of the screen and click on Utilities. Then, choose Terminal.
Type "resetpassword" without the quotes and hit Enter (Return).
If FileVault is disabled, you should be able to reset your password without issue.

If FileVault is enabled, you will see the below screen instead:
 
Maybe while in recovery open up a terminal window and try running "resetpassword"
Not sure if it'll work with Big Sur or M1 Macs but it's worked well for me before on older devices.
 
Yes I tried that but it tells me something like there is no user to recover a password for.
I might have messed something up in disc utilities by trying to delete the macOS partition before - which looked like it worked but when trying to install it gives me the message that there is no user with privileges.
Weird enough if I check in disk utilities I can still see 300gb or so available from the 512gb drive so I don’t think anything got deleted.
On my iPad I can luckily still access my iCloud files or I would be totally screwed.
Any idea what else I can try ?
 
irock101 said:
Yes I tried that but it tells me something like there is no user to recover a password for.
I might have messed something up in disc utilities by trying to delete the macOS partition before - which looked like it worked but when trying to install it gives me the message that there is no user with privileges.
Weird enough if I check in disk utilities I can still see 300gb or so available from the 512gb drive so I don’t think anything got deleted.
On my iPad I can luckily still access my iCloud files or I would be totally screwed.
Any idea what else I can try ?
Click to expand...
Go to Terminal and input "reset password." Do that command twice without the parenthesis. Then, you need to delete the drive with the name Apple SSD (with numbers in it), rename it to Macintosh HD, and make sure it is APFS.
 
Thanks! That seemed to have worked! reinstalling BigSur now.. couldn’t restore from time machine backup. Told me I need to use migration assistant
 
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Was downloading BigSur.. says it takes 3 hours.. just came to check and it said PDK download error.. Trying again now
 
I have re-installed bigSur, setup a brand new user with a totally simple password. Installation finishes, I try to login, wrong password !! Can’t believe it and don’t know what to do next..
 
Is the keyboard wireless? There are issues with using non-Apple wireless keyboards with File Vault enabled.
 
I have unplugged all devices and was typing from the laptop keyboard itself.

Now I am re-installing BigSur again..
 
To confirm, is it your 'Apple ID' password that seems to be incorrect?

I would suggest to log into your Apple account from another computer, or even a smartphone. Thus, making sure the correct credentials are being entered.
 
My Apple ID as in the one I login to iCloud and co is fine. It’s the password that I create to login to my MacBook user that does not work.
 
The keyboard you attached to your Mac has changed the input method in settings u will need to try another keyboard then it'll enter the correct password it has probably changed the keyboard input for the Mac as well.
 
Since this is a MacBook, during the OS install and setup, when creating the account can you not use the MacBook keyboard?

In doing so, are you then not able to log in? Post the above, then try the other keyboard you've purchased...
 
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