Locked out of macOs / Wired KB not working

[SaturnsLament]

Hello all:

I have an issue with macOS. I spilled some water on my keyboard, which killed some keys (including the G key, which appears a lot in my password). I have a wired keyboard but macOS won’t recognize it. It says “login to use accessories.” I have Firevault and “ask for new accessories” turned on. I would just reinstall macOS, but I have a developer project on the OS which is NOT backed up yet (did 12 hours of coding and forgot to backup at the time of the spill).

I tried to decrypt via recovery mode. Despite having iCloud on and tied to my installation, it’s asking for my recovery key. I don’t have the recovery key.

What are my options?

Late 2020 M1 MacBook Pro, macOS v. 26.6 (Beta)

 

[JPack]

Keyboard replacement. Regular shops will do a top case replacement. The more skilled shops can do keyboard-only and avoid the need to replace the entire top case and battery.

 

[benholt]

before you go the keyboard replacement route — try the on-screen keyboard on the login screen. accessibility icon in the bottom right (or hit the option key five times if that works) → Accessibility Keyboard. you can then type your full password with the trackpad, log in once, and after that you can go into System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessories and approve the wired keyboard permanently. the "log in to use accessories" thing is by design on the M-series machines — FileVault + Secure Enclave won't let USB accessories authenticate until you've unlocked at least once since the last boot.

 

[tonmischa]

try the on-screen keyboard on the login screen. accessibility icon in the bottom right (or hit the option key five times if that works)

thats a nice trick. unfortunately it seems you have to have this already enabled in the macOS system settings?

I couldn't enable this accessibilty option from the login screen. Google says there is a OPT-CMD-F5 keyboard shortcut, but that wasn't working for me. (M1 Air, Sequoia, ymmv)
Triple-TouchID only opened VoiceOver but no onscreen keyboard.

@OP: Try another, very simple, vanilla USB keyboard. (Windows keyboard will work too.) Connect it directly. No fancy hubs, or fancy adapters. If necessary use the simplest USB-C to USB-A dongle.
I have never seen the need to authenticate to JUST connect a simple wired keyboard.

I was proven wrong. AppleSilicon laptops seem to need authentication for every wired device. Even very simple ones.

 

[Czo]

@OP: Try another, very simple, vanilla USB keyboard. (Windows keyboard will work too.) Connect it directly. No fancy hubs, or fancy adapters. If necessary use the simplest USB-C to USB-A dongle.
I have never seen the need to authenticate to JUST connect a simple wired keyboard.

There is a setting to require authentication to connect wired devices.

 

[tonmischa]

There is a setting to require authentication to connect wired devices.

That's a new Tahoe setting then? I missed that.
I apologize.

 

[Czo]

That's a new Tahoe setting then? I missed that.
I apologize.

Nah, it was there since Ventura, I reckon.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you have a brick n mortar Apple Store anywhere nearby, take it to the Genius bar.

But they're going to tell you that you need either:
- new keyboard
- new motherboard AND keyboard
- new top case
No matter what, it's going to cost you.

Since this unit is now approaching 6 years old, might be time to start thinking about what you might replace it with...

A little rantin' here.
OP says:
"I have Firevault and “ask for new accessories” turned on."
and
"I tried to decrypt via recovery mode. Despite having iCloud on and tied to my installation, it’s asking for my recovery key. I don’t have the recovery key."

See what happens when you put all these un-necessary "protections" on?
What happens when you've had a disaster (as the OP has had), and "can't get to anything" ...???
/ rant

 

[tonmischa]

Nah, it was there since Ventura, I reckon.

I am working mainly with desktop Macs. The need to approve is only necessary on Apple Silicon LAPTOPS.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102282
That explains it. Sorry for the confusion. 🙂

 

[Brian33]

If you had Screen Sharing or Remote Login enabled, you could use another Mac (or even a PC) to access the problem machine. Screen Sharing would be the easiest, but even Terminal access through ssh would allow you to copy the files on it.

Unfortunately it's not enabled by default, so you would have had to have turned it on in the past.

 

[tonmischa]

If you had Screen Sharing or Remote Login enabled, you could use another Mac (or even a PC) to access the problem machine.

He has FileVault enabled. When the machine boots, the hard disk is still encrypted. Screen Sharing is not working yet at that point.

But - as I just learned - Remote Login will actually work.

You can finally manage Macs with FileVault remotely in Tahoe

For years, I've had a couple Macs running at home and at my studio, which I use to remotely manage my video projects or some coding project. It's nice to have a workstation set up that you can access anywhere via Screen Sharing to check on progress, jot down a note, etc.—and not be tied to a web...

www.jeffgeerling.com