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Imac 27" 10.11.3 suddenly won't recognize Icloud password

My computer was working perfectly until this morning, and it seems like many of my preferences have disappeared. The computer will not start up in recovery mode or safe mode. I can boot up from a backup external drive, but I want to reinstall El Capitan (sigh) but my password simply isn't recognized in the App store and I'm told to "contact support". I have two other laptops that I could use with the Target mode, and all of my files are backed up onto an external drive and Dropbox. I haven't done this for a long time and need some tips on how to reinstall El Capitan on my Imac. Have no idea how it became corrupted. The computer has a Fusion drive and is about 7 months old. Haven't contacted Applecare as I wasn't sure whether they helped with a software issue.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5), null

Posted on Feb 27, 2016 2:19 PM

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13 replies

Feb 27, 2016 2:27 PM in response to we04ndy

Since it is in warranty why don't you take it to the Apple Store for repair. If the drive has failed it will be replaced free of charge.


There are three ways to reinstall OS X. The first way is to re-install over the existing system (must be the same version) which does not erase the drive. The second way erases the drive and reinstalls the original version of OS X that was pre-installed. This does not work if the computer was released prior to 2011. The third way is for older machines pre-2011 on which you must first install Snow Leopard after erasing the drive.


You do not have Lion installed as shown in your profile if you have an iMac that is only 7 months old.

Reinstall El Capitan Without Erasing the Drive


Make sure you have a current backup before proceeding.


Boot to the Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar.. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run First Aid until no errors are reported. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.



Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.

Install or Reinstall OS X from Scratch


Be sure you have backed up your files because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Erase the hard drive:


1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.


2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the

left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.


3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on

the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on

the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.


4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should install the version of OS X that you had installed.

Feb 27, 2016 2:31 PM in response to Kappy

I am unable to boot in the Recovery mode; I have an ethernet connection, but Apple won't let me download El Capitan because it doesn't recognize my password. Command + R won't work, Safe mode won't work, I tried creating a new administrator account thinking I could download the OS that way, and still can't boot up in recovery mode. My ethernet internet connection is working fine.

Feb 27, 2016 2:51 PM in response to we04ndy

Have you tried this method:


Install OS X Using Network Recovery


Be sure you have backed up your files because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Network Recovery Server:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


  1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
  2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.


Please try this before fooling around with the the drive via the Terminal. Destroying a Fusion drive structure is not particularly easy, so it just doesn't happen.

Feb 27, 2016 2:55 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:


Please try this before fooling around with the the drive via the Terminal. Destroying a Fusion drive structure is not particularly easy, so it just doesn't happen.

The terminal command just prints out the structure to see if it's corrupted. And it can be damaged easier than one might think. For example trying to add two partitions, or re-partitioning it more than once, or removing a Boot Camp partition incorrectly. There are others.

Feb 27, 2016 7:21 PM in response to we04ndy

I'm not sure how TDM comes into this. You would need two computers. Each could have Firewire ports or Thunderbolt ports. Adapters can be used for Thunderbolt to Firewire. Connect the two and boot the target machine into Target Disk Mode. Boot the other normally. Not sure what you think you would do at this point.


Nevertheless, doing a Network Restore will erase the drive, so you needn't worry about overwriting El Capitan. Mountain Lion can be upgraded back to El Capitan. But you would know that had you read what I posted. You would note that re-partitioning the disk drive was the first thing you would do. Perhaps the next time around you could post a much clearer statement of your problem. Then we don't have to guess what you want.


If you have a bootable Recovery HD, then you can do a clean install:


Install or Reinstall OS X from Scratch


Be sure you have backed up your files because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Erase the hard drive:


1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.


2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the

left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.


3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on

the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on

the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.


4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should install the version of OS X that you had installed.


If you wish to simply reinstall El Capitan, then do the following:


Reinstall El Capitan Without Erasing the Drive


Make sure you have a current backup before proceeding.


Boot to the Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar.. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run First Aid until no errors are reported. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.

Feb 27, 2016 7:56 PM in response to dialabrain

None of those can happen spontaneously. A Fusion drive does not suddenly stop being a Fusion drive. It can have a damaged directory, but it doesn't simply become something else. In any event my post was suggesting to try something first. If it fails, then the problem is all yours. What i know about Fusion drives is admittedly little, but I have broken them into separate drives and put them back together as Fusion drive. A bit more difficult than partitioning them. As for Boot Camp I am happy to leave that to Loner T. 😀


The point of it all is unless a user is familiar with using the Terminal with diskutil, I think that if there is an easier solution using Disk Utility, then better to do that instead. But that's my opinion. It was not my intent to start a debate over this. 😀

Feb 27, 2016 8:12 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks to all who offered suggestions. For some unknown reason, everything is working again without any intervention on my part, and I'm beginning to wonder whether it was an Apple System issue; I failed to check the status.

As I was continually getting the message "This Mac can't connect to Icloud because of a problem with "[my login...]" and now it's working, I think that's the logical conclusion. I have no reason to think I have any directory issues: I had checked it with Disk Warrior earlier in the day and all was well.

Imac 27" 10.11.3 suddenly won't recognize Icloud password

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