Unable to Log into FileVault user account.

Doesn't look good.

Maybe you should look around for sparseimage

Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

# l is lower case L

mac $ # List all users on your machine. You will see the short user name.

mac $ ls -l /Users

total 0

drwxrwx--- 7 root admin 238B Nov 6 12:47 Deleted Users/

drwxrwxrwt 11 root wheel 374B Jun 8 16:26 Shared/

drwxr-xr-x 12 508 a 408B Jun 8 16:19 a (Deleted)/

drwxr-xr-x 22 compile compile 748B Jun 8 16:20 compile/

drwxr-xr-x 6 root wheel 204B Jun 8 16:20 ftp/

dr-x------ 3 fv fv 102B Nov 6 12:57 fv/

drwxr-xr-x 139 mac staff 4K Nov 6 12:43 mac/

I there a deleted user? Look in that folder.

ls -l /Users/Deleted\ Users/
total 28360
-rw-r--r--   1 root  admin       2M Sep 30  2010 fv.dmg
-rw-r--r--   1 root  admin       2M Nov  6 12:47 fv4.dmg
-rw-r--r--   1 root  admin       5M Nov  6 12:48 ichat.dmg
-rw-r--r--   1 root  admin       2M Nov  6 12:47 win.dmg
 mac $ 

You could look around for the sparseimage.

terminal

you need to run this from an admin account. You password will not appear. press return after typing password.

mac $ sudo find / -iname "*sparseimage*"

Password:

/Users/fv/fv.sparseimage

/Volumes/ServiceRepairManuals/savedOperatingSystems/MacOS10-afterThunder.sparsei mage

/Volumes/ServiceRepairManuals/savedOperatingSystems/TigerOnFirewire-CCC-Hung.spa rseimage

mac $

I had to look very carefully at your post. I have used "fv" for the filevault id. I have a partition name ServiceRepairManuals 😮 ! Now, that I've sorted out that I am looking at your stuff 🙂.

---------------------------------------------------

The file is there. Your Terminal kung foo power were low the day you tried them. In the terminal, you need to put a command then the file name. You put only the filename.

You need to decide how important your data is to you. I'd go with backing up your entire hd. Should have suggested earlier. At a minimum you should copy the sparse image to a flash drive.

There are one or two problems with working with filevault. You run into permission problems. There maybe hidden files you need to look at. The terminal is unforgiving of mistakes. There is not recovery built in for users making mistakes.

now that you have found the file lets, see the size.

Here is the command & my attempts to figure it out. -lh list in long format & human readable file size.

sudo ls -lh /Users/fv/fv.sparseimage

ls /Users/
Deleted Users/    compile/    mac/        me/        na-old/        student/
Shared/        ftp/        macLimited/    mysidekick/    seeker/        t2-org/
a (Deleted)/    fv/        macPanels/    na copy/    standard/    web/
 mac $  ls /Users/fv
ls: fv: Permission denied
 mac $  sudo ls /Users/fv
Password:
fv.sparseimage

 mac $  sudo ls -lh /Users/fv/fv.sparseimage
-rw-------   1 fv  fv       92M Nov  6 12:57 /Users/fv/fv.sparseimage
 mac $ 

# let see if we have a flash drive attached.  I do.  It is called Backup. 
#  & formal name is /Volumes/Backup

ls /Volumes/
Backup/            Ext-Remainder@        Second-80/        ServiceRepairManuals/

 mac $  cp -i /Users/fv/fv.sparseimage /Volumes/Backup/
cp: /Users/fv/fv.sparseimage: Permission denied

# no sudo.  which is superuser do.  sudo is very powerful.

# you need to be real careful here.  cp or copy will overlay files by default.  Add -i to avoid.
# the -i says to ask before overlay a file.
# Don't have spaces in your names.
# I put double quotes around the names just in case you added a space were you should not have.
# copy the file onto the volume Backup. 
# 
 mac $  sudo cp -i "/Users/fv/fv.sparseimage"  "/Volumes/Backup/"

# here is how to create a newname for the file.
# add the new name after /Volumes/Backup/
 mac $  sudo cp -i "/Users/fv/fv.sparseimage"  "/Volumes/Backup/fvnewname"

# lets see what we did
# no spaces in filename so I do not need the double quotes

 mac $  ls -l /Volumes/Backup/fv.sparseimage
-rw-------   1 mac  staff       92M Nov  8 13:38 /Volumes/Backup/fv.sparseimage
 mac $  ls -l /Volumes/Backup/fvnewname     
-rw-------   1 mac  staff       92M Nov  8 13:45 /Volumes/Backup/fvnewname
 mac $ 

fyi...

Here is an overview of the terminal commands. Lets assume that your account has a short user name of mac.
Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
#What is my short user name? Type the whoami command.
mac $ whoami
mac
mac $
#How to list all of your disks.
# The ls command is for list
mac $ ls /Volumes/
Audio CD Macintosh-HD Spotless Tiger-ext
mac $
# Let's say your flash drive is named Spotless

# cd is change directory
mac $ cd /Volumes/Spotless
# pwd is Print Working Directory. A directory is the Unix name for a folder. You are always in a directory.
mac $ pwd
/Volumes/Spotless
mac $
# The ls command is for list
# l is long
# F is type of file where / is directory. For directories, the slash is pasted to the end of the name.
mac $ ls -lF
total 134704
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 64560 Mar 3 2009 A-picture-of-Youpi-key.png
drwxr-xr-x 83 mac staff 2822 Nov 7 14:52 Applescript files/
drwxrwxrwx 12 mac staff 408 Dec 13 2008 Christmas Cards/
drwxr-xr-x 9 mac staff 306 Dec 21 17:39 Christmas Cards 2009/
... trimmed ... What does all this mean?

drwxrwxrwx

d = directory
r = read
w = write
x = executeable program

drwxrwxrwx
|| | |
|| | all other users not in first two types
|| |
|| group
||
|owner
|
What type of entry is this? d = directory, - = file, etc.

Every Unix resource: files, folders, etc has an owner, group, other
A Unix resource has one owner.
A Unix resource has one group. A group contains a list of users.

To gain access to a file, you can be the owner, in the group, or not the owner and not in the group hence you end up as other. The owner, group, or other has read, write, or execute permissions.

# l is long
# a is all to show hidden files & folders
mac $ ls -lFa
total 134736
drwxr-xr-x 41 mac staff 1496 Dec 22 17:11 .
drwxrwxrwt 8 root admin 272 Dec 24 13:55 ..
-rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 15364 Dec 23 12:52 .DS_Store*
drwx------ 4 mac staff 136 Jan 22 2009 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt 5 mac staff 170 Sep 14 16:36 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wx 4 mac staff 136 Dec 31 1969 .Trashes
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 64560 Mar 3 2009 A-picture-of-Youpi-key.png
drwxr-xr-x 83 mac staff 2822 Nov 7 14:52 Applescript files
drwxrwxrwx 12 mac staff 408 Dec 13 2008 Christmas Cards
drwxr-xr-x 9 mac staff 306 Dec 21 17:39 Christmas Cards 2009
... trimmed ...
# mv is move or rename
mv -i the-name the-new-name

# You can just rename the file back to what it was with mv command.
mv -i old-name new-name

Here is what these commands mean:
cd is change directory
pwd is a print working directory
ls is list
sudo is Super user do
mv is move or rename

For cryptic comments, you can always uses the manual command which is man. For example:
man mv

# Type the letter q to quit.
In case you have spaces in your filenames or directories, you need to escape them. See examples:

mac $ ls -l ~/"see it"
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 3171 Oct 26 23:38 /Users/mac/see it
mac $
mac $ cd /Users/mac/Desktop/ttt\ html\ copy/

Do you know about tabbing? Type in a few letters of a name then press the tab key. The computer will type out the rest of the name if it is unique.

Press the up arrow key to see the previous command(s).

To edit a command, use the left arrow key to more left and the right arrow key to move right. Use the delete key to delete the key to the left. Type a letter to insert.

history to see many previous commands.

mac $ history

1 pwd

2 man ls

3 history

You may copy then paste from this list.

----------------------

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2692161&tstart=0

Robert

Although this thread relates to Tiger, much of it also applies to Mavericks, which is what I have.

I get the same message (unable to login ...) when I try to login to a managed account with the userid of 'jimmya'.

I created the account under Snow Leopard and am sure I didn't set Filevault for it or for the administrator account, the only other account on my machine.

On Snow Leopard you had the Master Password to recover a forgotten password when Filevault was activated, and I did set a Master Password but had forgotten that and could not recover it, but I emphasise that I never activated Filevault. When I went to Mavericks, it is from then that I got the message (unable to login ..), and, apparantly, Mavericks now has a different way of dealing with forgotten passwords when Filevault is activated, doing away with the Master Password mechanism. Anyway, when I try logging on with the userid 'jimmya', getting the message of being unable to login, I get console messages for that userid, and the following is a screenshot - can anyone decipher anything from these messages?

Please, this is all under the car hood stuff. Things changed. You askings us to work on a turbo 8-cylinder engine when we have only worked on 4 cylinder engines before.

You need to post this to the Mavericks discussion.

https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mavericks

Thanks for your reply, rccharles, but I thought that 'under the hood' things wouldn't have changed so radically that the console messages would be so different as to be completely unintelligible to those who are technically savvy in earlier OSX versions; and when I do go to the Mavericks forum and type in my question, at the very top of the suggested places to look for an answer is this thread! Anyway, I'll post it there as well.