I need to get files off of my mac, and SSH and RDP are both disabled. My screen is broken, and my SSD is encrypted by FileVault.
Now, I do have one advantage: An external monitor. However, it will not turn on until FileVault has decrypted the hard drive. I have a BIOS password on it as well.
If there is a way to automatically select a user at the FileVault screen by pressing Enter or so, then please tell me. What I think I need to do is boot into Single User Mode, but I need to know exactly what prompts I'll encounter until it will display on the external monitor.
Best Answer
Ok, this is based on your comment about having two users.
I have Mountain Lion with two users and tried a reboot here. On the login screen (where you normally click the user to enter the password), it seems you can press "Alt+I " (in your case) to get the password prompt for the user that has a name starting with "I" (in my case either Alt+M or Alt+S).
After pressing Enter, the field for the password opens, so you could type "password" and get to the desktop.
I don't know about File-Vault, or what it would look like, but if you know how to get to the User-Login screen without seeing it, the above will get you logged in and that may display the 2nd monitor.
(Regarding your other comment about it being hard to put the drive into a Mac-Mini, you don't need to put it "into" the Mac. A cheap USB case will let you connect the drive to any computer or Mac via the USB port.)