After migrating to Catalina, login after restart and after change-user feature different users/passwords, please help!
I recently set up my new Airbook laptop with a fresh MacOS 10.15.7 and used the TimeMachine (full backup); at the same time I migrated from HighSierra to Catalina. Everything OK, until I restarted for the first time: my password did no longer work. I tried Recovery Mode, resetpassword, and to my surprise, it listed 3 accounts that were different from the accounts appearing after the restart, that is:
resetpassword: g.f. (my account, I think), root1 and adm;
after_restart: gf, root1 and another_user.
I reset all passwords, and after restart, I still could not log into gf, but I could log into root1. As root1, I could change the password for gf, via "System Preferences"; that possibility is greyed out ever since. I did change-user, clicked on gf (surprisingly I see the default Catalina background image, not the one I set myself), and now I could login with the password I always used before that "first restart after migration".
Only via changing the user (once logged in via root1) and via a login screen that then features the Catalina image, I can currently access my account, and I fear that even this may be disabled after the next restart. When I'm logged in, and I do "su root1", "sudo passwd gf" asks for the Old Password, and entering the password-I-always-used:
passwd: Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid. Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid.
Trying "sysadminctl -resetPasswordFor gf -newPassword xxxx" fails, too:
sysadminctl[19219:817916] Operation is not permitted without secure token unlock.
Moreover, as gf and as root1, using sysadminctl, I find that "Secure token is ENABLED for user gf". However,
sysadminctl -secureTokenOn gf thepasswordIknow
returns "Operation is not permitted without secure token unlock". Moreover, as root1,
sudo sysadminctl -adminUser root1 -adminPassword – -secureTokenOn gf -password –
returns "Incorrect password for user gf", if I use the thepasswordIknow.
What to do? (Why are there two distinct lists of accounts?)
Please help… I fear this nightmare gets worse and then I cannot access my account any longer.
I'm grateful for any hints
gf
Best Answer
I’m a big fan of using the Apple graphical tools since they help make it clear what’s being done.