iMac 27": EFI boot no longer showing password entry field, why?

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iMac 27": EFI boot no longer showing password entry field, why?

Hello,

I have an iMac 27" with Lion (10.7.5) installed and FileVault2 enabled. Suddenly the EFI boot menu does no longer show the password entry field or the shutdown & reboot buttons. I can select my user on the EFI boot menu and then enter the password in a not visible but still working password entry field and then the iMac boots.

In verbose boot mode I can see some EFI boot errors after entering the password and pressing ENTER but they are only visible for a fraction of a second and therefor I can not read them properly.

I aleady zapped the PRAM/NVRAM but this didn't help.

Does anybody know what the problem is?

Thanks for any help!

Best regards, Chris

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 22, 2013 12:26 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

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Jan 22, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Swisspenguin

Hi Chris,

Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

Any change?

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Answer 2

Swisspenguin Author

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Jan 22, 2013 11:16 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the info. I'm at the office at the moment and will try it later when I'm at home.

Regards, Chris

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Answer 3

Swisspenguin Author

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Jan 23, 2013 8:36 AM in response to Swisspenguin

Ok, I tried it (boot into lion recovery partition, then repair disk and repair permissions) but it did not fix the problem. The password text field is still not shown when booting the iMac although I can enter the password into the not visible entry field and the iMac then boots.

Regards, Chris

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Answer 4

Jan 23, 2013 11:40 AM in response to Swisspenguin

I have a similar problem, I get past the grey apple screen, then to th ell blue screen and everything stops there.

I had just recently made some changes to my system permissions. I tried to rebbot with Command +R, also with Command, Option, P + R, with no results, any suggestions?

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Answer 5

Swisspenguin Author

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Jan 23, 2013 4:39 PM in response to Vanmacapple

Hi Vanmacapple, I'm pretty sure you don't have a similar problem. As I clearly state in my original post, my iMac doesn't get stuck but boots without problems after I entered the password in the no longer visible EFI pre-boot authentificaion password entry field.

I just want to get this EFI pre-boot authentification password entry field visible again.

So can we please focus on my problem in this thread?

Please open another thread for your problem. Thanks 🙂

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Answer 6

BDAqua

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Jan 24, 2013 4:28 PM in response to Swisspenguin

OK, is this a Firmware PW box or a login PW box?

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Answer 7

Swisspenguin Author

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Jan 24, 2013 10:14 PM in response to BDAqua

It's the login password box from the EFI pre boot authentification (I have FileVault2 enabled so the complete harddisk is encrypted). It's not the firmware password box.

It was visible for months since I have installed Lion and then activated FileVault2 but all of a sudden the password box is no longer visible although it's still working as I still can enter the password in the invisible password box and the mac then boots successfully.

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Answer 8

BDAqua

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Jan 24, 2013 10:28 PM in response to Swisspenguin

Ouch, Filevault PW is even more difficult! 😟

This still works to at least maybe get you in to the Mac in a new account...

Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD...

http://theappleblog.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-password-without-an-os-x-cd/

Admin Hack...

http://www.hackmac.org/?q=node/4

Starts up like the first time you buy a new Mac, but after filling in all that info again, you should have access to the computer and the other Users & files will still be there... give the new User a different name than an existing one.

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Answer 9

BDAqua

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238,991 points

Jan 24, 2013 10:29 PM in response to Swisspenguin

But if you can get in... turn off Filevault.

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Answer 10

Swisspenguin Author

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Jan 24, 2013 10:58 PM in response to BDAqua

Well I could turn off FileVault2, wait until the disk is completely decrypted and then turn on FileVault2 again and wait until the disk is fully encrypted, hoping the EFI pre-boot authentification will be rewritten to the disk when I enable FileVault2 again.

I already thought about that but as this is a task that will last for days I was looking for a way to avoid it. 🙂

Ahhh... well... maybe I really have to try this...

Ok, week end is near so I will give it a try...

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Answer 11

BDAqua

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Jan 24, 2013 11:24 PM in response to Swisspenguin

FileVault s great... if it just works, but the most painful thing when it often doesn't. 😉

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