How to stop Mac from rebooting to HD password screen?

"How to stop Mac from rebooting to HD password screen?: Mac lovked on HD pass to be entered. I enter the password and it starts to reboot but then flashes green and comes right back to this screen"

-------

Thank you for the photo.

Troubleshooting a Mac in a Boot Loop:

Being continuous, it seems there is an error in the caches. So, did you ever create a backup your Mac prior to this update. If so, restore your Mac from the backup you just created. This boot loop can occur when go you about installing an update, and it stalls while in the process.

Other Thoughts to Try:

A. Boot in Safe Mode:

In Safe Mode, Login Items do not run at login, certain preferences are set aside, and damaged system files are then reset. So, once booted in to Safe Mode, wait 30 seconds, and then boot up normally, attempting another update install. For instructions, go here: How to Use Safe Mode on your Mac - Apple Support

B. Reset your SMC and your NVRAM:

(Applies to Intel-Basel Macs Only): Sometimes changes (i.e. Installations) are made to the system and then settings (i.e. Networking) become corrupted, technically. So, reset both on your Mac. So, reset the SMC and reset the NVRAM or PRAM. It might take three tries. to fix this. So, be certain you have the time to do so.

Start With This:

• Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
• How to Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

C. Re-Mount the Drive:

Boot into Recovery Mode (Intel or Silicon) . You need to click the “Mount’ button to proceed. So, select the drives, and then click "Mount" Try rebooting once more. If of no success, then click unmount button, and then the mount button. Try rebooting once more. It looks dulled-out. So, if you cannot click it, then click the First Aid button to fix this volume.

Helppleasehdpasword Said:

"How to stop Mac from rebooting to HD password screen?: Mac lovked on HD pass to be entered. I enter the password and it starts to reboot but then flashes green and comes right back to this screen [...]I hope this is correct-MacBook Air. Sonoma 14: I got to the WiFi screen. Entered the password and got to reboot but it defaulted to the same screen as before. Maybe I am missing some steps?"

-------

Lock Before Recovery Mode:

You have a firmware password. That is what you need to enter. When you formatted hard drive, you would have encrypted it, which you would have been required to create a password. So, if you don't know the password, then you just can't get into it. So, enter a few password for thought.

So, what to do...

1. Go Here: If your Mac doesn't Start Up All the Way - Apple Support
2. Scroll to: Lock icon
3. As it reads: "If your Mac is using a firmware password, the lock icon appears when you try to start up from another disk or volume, such as an external drive or macOS Recovery. Enter the firmware password to continue."

We need the complete model shown on the Apple Check Coverage page which should have a model year designation and for laptops a screen size listed as well. Sometimes it may even include a CPU version as well. Here are some examples:

Do you have a good backup? If not, do you need to backup the data on the internal SSD?

Do you have at least 80GB+ of Free storage space on the internal boot drive? Or a spare external USB3 drive that can be erased?

Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.

See if you can boot into Safe Mode.

What may have changed on this laptop since the last time you successfully booted into macOS?

First try booting into Recovery Mode so you can run Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll back through the report to see if any unfixed errors are listed. If so, then run First Aid again until the errors are gone. If the errors remain after multiple runs of First Aid, then you will need to perform a clean install of macOS by first erasing the disk followed by reinstalling macOS & restoring from a backup.

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple Support

If First Aid does not report any errors or all errors are repaired, but you still have this boot loop, then try reinstalling macOS over top of itself. As long as you do not erase the disk/volume, then everything will remain intact including your data.

I hope you have a good backup since it may not be easy to make one now.

FYI, you should usually mention the exact model of your Mac and version of macOS involved since this information is usually required for assisting with most issues. You can get the exact model by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

FYI, I'm currently working on one of my organization's Macs which is in a boot loop, so I do have some fresh although limited knowledge & direct experience. I definitely need answers to my previous questions in order to assist you.

I'm assuming Filevault is enabled?

Edit: If you can boot into Recovery Mode, then launch the Terminal app from the Utilities menu on the menubar. Run the following two commands & post pictures of the results.

diskutil  list  internal

diskutil  ap  list

Make sure to maximize the Terminal window by clicking the green button. If the output of the last command scrolls off the display, then you can use the following command which will allow you to scroll through the output so you can take multiple pictures. Use the Up Arrow & Down Arrow keys to scroll up & down a line at a time, or you can use Fn + Up Arrow and Fn + Down Arrow to page up & down a screen at a time. To exit the listing, just press the "Q" key.

diskutil  ap  list  |  less