I got quite the headscratcher here...
I'm in a password reset loop. I have been tasked with "fixing" my wife's MacBook. I'm a technical support engineer for SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD on the Windows platform, so I have to do a lot of self-learning with the MacOS environment as I go. I've exhausted everything I could find mentioned online and would be very appreciative of some insight from more experienced users.
THE GOAL
- Access the HD to recover important documents and pictures.
THE SITUATION
My wife left her computer unused for many months. The battery ran out and it was left 100% dead for a good while.
When charging it back up and trying to log in, the machine will not accept my wife's machine password (she had written it down previously). We've tried over 50 iterations. We tried all passwords and all permutations of any Apple passwords past and present. No dice.
So far, no method of resetting the password has been successful.
The machine seemingly can't connect to the internet to reset the password via Apple ID even though I have verified it is connected to Wifi. I tried multiple networks to rule out faulty internet. It rejects incorrect passwords, so I know it actually connects when the Wifi credentials are entered correctly. At this point, her Apple ID is the only credential I can independently verify is accurate.
My wife inadvertently activated FileVault and can't remember if/where she stored the Recovery Key. Big "uh-oh."
Because FileVault is active, I cannot access the macOS Utilities (⌘+R held while booting) to run the 'resetpassword' command in the Terminal. It only boots to the Recovery OS which isn't helpful.
I also am locked out of single-user startup (⌘+S held while booting) which is disabled when FileVault is active. I was hoping to run some command-line codes to reset the password or create and admin account. Can't do any of that with FileVault enabled.
The 'Macintosh HD' Startup Disk is encrypted in the Recovery Assistant. It asks for an unlock password, but I have no idea what to enter. Any attempt has been unsuccessful.
Need some insight!