lotusms

Q: I can't log in my Mac OS X Yosemite. User account does not show.

There are two users in this laptop and I restarted the laptop. On my login screen I only see his account and textbox for his password which I don't know. I can't see anywhere in the screen to switch to my account.

 

I tried holding the power button and pressing it again then pressing CMD + S and I see the white text quickly before it goes away and back the same screen with his login only.

 

I tried holding the Shift key down after restarting and didn't do anything

 

I managed to get to safari only by pressing CMD + R and choosing to find help online, but I don't have access to anything else. Just safari.

 

Is there any way to retreive my user account or make it show so I can log in with it?

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 30, 2015 9:29 AM

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Q: I can't log in my Mac OS X Yosemite. User account does not show.

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  • by Averythomas,

    Averythomas Averythomas May 30, 2015 9:30 AM in response to lotusms
    Level 4 (1,466 points)
    May 30, 2015 9:30 AM in response to lotusms

    Follow these steps to reset your password and view the username, http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/reset-osx-user-account-password/

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Averythomas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Averythomas

    Thank you! I will try this. Hopefully it works!

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa May 30, 2015 9:45 AM in response to lotusms
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    May 30, 2015 9:45 AM in response to lotusms

    Do both users have admin privileges or is it only one? The administrator should be able to log in and reset the preferences to show both users on the login page.

     

    And, here is some Apple help on this topic:

     

    OS X Mavericks: Solve password problems

     

    OS X Mavericks: Reset a login password

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 30, 2015 10:04 AM in response to lotusms
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 30, 2015 10:04 AM in response to lotusms

    If you've activated FileVault, only the users that were authorized to unlock the startup volume will appear in the pre-startup authentication dialog. Once the system has started up, all users will appear in the login dialog.

    To authorize more users after the volume has been encrypted, select the FileVault tab in the Security & Privacy  preference pane. Click the lock icon in the lower left corner and authenticate to unlock the settings, if necessary. Click Enable Users...

    You should only enable users whom you trust implicitly with all data on the system, not just their own data.

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 10:34 AM in response to lotusms
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 10:34 AM in response to lotusms

    I tried the first suggestion above and when the window for resetting the password came up it was all empty. No volume choices,  no users in the dropdown list. Nothing.  So that was a dead end.

     

    @babowa, yes. Both users are Admin

     

    @lincdavis file vault is not enabled

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 10:48 AM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 10:48 AM in response to babowa

    FileVault is not on. This is not really a matter of forgotten password, more like my user account not showing at all as a choice to log in with it. I could change his password if that was a choice, but when I click on the question mark, nothing happens either.

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 10:50 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 10:50 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Is there a way that I can enable FileVault at this point? .............

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 30, 2015 10:58 AM in response to lotusms
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 30, 2015 10:58 AM in response to lotusms

    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities window appears, select

              Utilities Terminal

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen—not from any of the items in the OS X Utilities window.

    In the window that opens, type this:

    resetp

    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

    resetpassword

    Press return. A Reset Password window opens. Close the Terminal window to get it out of the way.

    Select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected. You won't be able to do this if FileVault is active.

    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

    Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.

    Select

               Restart

    from the menu bar.

    You should now be able to log in with the new password, but the Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as the login password), there's no way to recover it.

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 5:25 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 5:25 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I tried this first as it was suggested at the beginning of this thread but the Reset Password window does not have any volume to select nor does it let me type Macintosh HD in it

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 30, 2015 6:01 PM in response to lotusms
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 30, 2015 6:01 PM in response to lotusms

    That would happen if FileVault was active. Is the other user of the computer available to log in?

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 6:07 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 6:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Not until Monday morning, which is a bummer because I have work to do until then

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 30, 2015 6:09 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 6:09 PM in response to Linc Davis

    The reset Password window says " You do not have iCloud FileVault recovery set up for this volume. Use your recovery key to unlock this volume in Login Window

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 30, 2015 7:02 PM in response to lotusms
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 30, 2015 7:02 PM in response to lotusms

    FileVault is active, as I wrote earlier. You will get no further without the password or the recovery key, neither of which you have, unless you erase the internal drive (destroying all data.)

  • by lotusms,

    lotusms lotusms May 31, 2015 6:13 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2015 6:13 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Alright. Thanks for helping anyway. It was worth the try

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