Reset password does not work

[Tex-Twil]

Hi,
I friend of mine has a mbp with FileVault enabled. She knows the password of the FileVault and she can boot into macOS and use it. However, when she needs to perform anything as admin (eg allow some accessibilty) she is prompted for her account password that she does not know anymore.

I tried to booting the into recovery mode and did the `resetpassword`. This starts the password reset flow and we changed the password using here AppleId account. After rebooting back to macOS, nothing changes though. Anytime she is promoted for a system password (e.g. Preferences > Users & Groups > Unlock), the new one does not work.

Any tips?

cheers

 

[chabig]

1. Can you log into the Admin account? If you can, you've got the right password. If not, you don't. Reset it again.
2. Does she have more than one admin user set up? Make sure you're using the correct admin username/password combination.

 

[Tex-Twil]

1. Can you log into the Admin account? If you can, you've got the right password. If not, you don't. Reset it again.
2. Does she have more than one admin user set up? Make sure you're using the correct admin username/password combination.

They is only one account on that mac and it's an admin account

 

[chabig]

Ok. But if she doesn’t know her account password, how does she log into her account?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I friend of mine has a mbp with FileVault enabled. She knows the password of the FileVault and she can boot into macOS and use it. However, when she needs to perform anything as admin (eg allow some accessibilty) she is prompted for her account password that she does not know anymore."

Is this a "filevault" password
or
Is it a FIRMWARE password?

Whatever it is...
If she "knows it", then my advice is to have her REMOVE IT.

And then... proceed from there.

My advice is to NEVER use a firmware password unless you have an absolutely compelling reason why it needs to be used.

 

[Tex-Twil]

no there is no Firmware password. Only FileVault.

When she boots the mac, she is promoted for a password that she enters and that works. Boot goes until the macOS desktop and she can basically use macOS without issues unless she needs to do anything requiring the admin password.

Ok. But if she doesn’t know her account password, how does she log into her account?

That's the thing I also don't understand.

 

[chabig]

Then her user account password is the admin password.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Then her user account password is the admin password.

well it's not. To sum up

- apple id password, let's say `1234` works online and she can use it on her iPhone, AppStore ..
- local password, let's say `ABCD` works just after boot (FileVault)
- when trying to do any admin stuff, neither `1234` nor `ABCD` work.
- there is only one user account on that mac and it's the admin account
- we tried to reset the password by booting to recovery and setting `ABCD` again as a local password

 

[chabig]

Users log in with an account name and password. If there is just one user account, that account is an admin account, and the password to that account is “ABCD” then that is the required admin password.

Please open System Preferences > Users and Groups and post a screenshot of that window. That might help get to the bottom of this.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Users log in with an account name and password. If there is just one user account, that account is an admin account, and the password to that account is “ABCD” then that is the required admin password.

Please open System Preferences > Users and Groups and post a screenshot of that window. That might help get to the bottom of this.

This is the account. `Laura` is the user and that's the account being asked for the admin password when for instance trying to modify the Accessibility settings

 

[adrianlondon]

Some of the posts above are probably a red herring. It's perfectly possible to have a non-admin user configured such that their password is also valid for unlocking Filevault.

You appear to have attempted the correct thing - boot into recovery and reset the admin password.

What you should now do is log in as that admin user, not her old user. That will prove the new password is working, or not. Your most likely issue is that you're resetting the password with one keyboard country layout and then typing it in with another. Check the QW/AZ keys for example.

 

[chabig]

Your most likely issue is that you're resetting the password with one keyboard country layout and then typing it in with another. Check the QW/AZ keys for example.

That makes sense. I would not have thought of that.

This is the account. `Laura` is the user and that's the account being asked for the admin password when for instance trying to modify the Accessibility settings

Thanks for the picture. It confirms everything you said. I like adreianlondon's idea about the keyboard.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Some more information:

- we did the password reset in recovery mode again to be sure that password is correct. All went fine and we did reset the local password

- Then booted back to macOS but still no luck. mac starts -> FileVault asks for password -> it's accepted -> macOS boots -> but she cannot do any admin unlock task

- Here are a couple of terminal commands that I made her do. All seems correct imo. She is able to run a command as root (sudo) with her local password

> whoami
laura

> id
uid=501(laura) gid=20(staff) groups=20(staff),12(everyone),61(localaccounts),79(_appserverusr),80(admin),81(_appserveradm),98(_lpadmin),701(com.apple.sharepoint.group.1),33(_appstore),100(_lpoperator),204(_developer),250(_analyticsusers),395(com.apple.access_ftp),398(com.apple.access_screensharing),399(com.apple.access_ssh),400(com.apple.access_remote_ae)

> sudo whoami
Password:
root

- When unlocking a the lock in `Users & Groups`, she tried to user her local account name "laura" instead of her full name as it's usually pre-filled in macOS. None of it worked.

 

[chabig]

- Then booted back to macOS but still no luck. mac starts -> FileVault asks for password -> it's accepted -> macOS boots -> but she cannot do any admin unlock task

You keep mentioning FileVault, but that is just confusing the point as FileVault is not a part of this problem you're having. When you boot a Mac, you're asked for an account password. That's needed to log in. It's is not "FileVault" asking for a password, nor is there a separate password for FileVault. Login is accomplished with a username and password.

Here is an idea...ask her to change her password from the Users & Groups pane while logged in, rather than from recovery.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Here is an idea...ask her to change her password from the Users & Groups pane while logged in, rather than from recovery.

oh We did that as well. Confirming the password change in macOS "worked" (the windows disappeared) but the problem remains the same

 

[chabig]

Then my guess is that there is no fix. The system is messed up.

What I would do at this point is make a backup of her data. Then restore the machine from scratch with a clean install. Create her account from scratch as you set up the new machine like new. Finally, restore her data files to her account.

 

[Tex-Twil]

ok, thanks for your help. I'll try to get a remote access and maybe I'll find something in the log files

otherwise I'll do the restore

 

[kenjezek]

I believe this is related to a bug in Big Sur. See the article below. This happened to me recently as well. Try resetting the SMC. That worked for me. Bonne chance.

If you can't unlock settings in System Preferences

If System Preferences doesn't accept a valid administrator password when you click the lock to make changes, try these solutions.

support.apple.com

 

[Tex-Twil]

I believe this is related to a bug in Big Sur. See the article below. This happened to me recently as well. Try resetting the SMC. That worked for me. Bonne chance.

If you can't unlock settings in System Preferences

If System Preferences doesn't accept a valid administrator password when you click the lock to make changes, try these solutions.

support.apple.com

oh wow, fingers crossed. I'll try to do that and will report back. Merci!

 

[Tex-Twil]

I believe this is related to a bug in Big Sur. See the article below. This happened to me recently as well. Try resetting the SMC. That worked for me. Bonne chance.

If you can't unlock settings in System Preferences

If System Preferences doesn't accept a valid administrator password when you click the lock to make changes, try these solutions.

support.apple.com

So this worked! Thanks so much