mirella b

Q: unable to log in  my user account

In a dual internal SSHD + HDD Mac Mini I have a one week old installation of el capitan where OS is in the main  SSHD and user and data is stored in a 1TB Hybrid HDD.

Every day I do a carbon copy clone of each internal disk to separated external disks plus a time machine to a third disk just in case.

Also in case something would go wrong  with the second internal disk and loose access I created a second user with administrator privileges with it's account details stored in the main SSHDD.

 

Last night suddenly got a message " you are unable to log in to the user account " XXXXXX" at this time. Logging in to the account failed because an error ocurred.

 

Now every time I try to log in, I get the same message. The only way I can access the Mac  is through the additional admin user but of course I can not access my files.

 

When I try to do a time machine restore ( I used one done 2 hours before) It does not offer me the choice to split the restore in both the main and the secondary HDD so I did it on the bigger secondary HDD and again the same unable to log problem repeated.

 

Then I did a carbon copy of both external HDD's clone to their respectively internal SSHDD and HDD and got the same unable to log in message.

 

Is there any way to be able to gain again access to my account or just try to save out my 120 GB photo library and start with a fresh installation ?

 

I am afraid this disaster could repeat again and perhaps the best solution is to replace the main SSHDD with one of a bigger size, store on it my user account and just use the seconday HDD to store the photos library ?

 

Any help please !!!!!

Mac mini, iOS 10

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 4:11 AM

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Q: unable to log in  my user account

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  • by den.thed,Helpful

    den.thed den.thed Sep 14, 2016 10:25 AM in response to mirella b
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Sep 14, 2016 10:25 AM in response to mirella b

    Sounds like maybe a loose connection or bad ribbon cable to one of the drives.

     

    What year model is the Mac Mini..?

    Did the Mac Mini originally come with dual drives or are you using a dual drive ribbon cable kit...?

     

    FWIW I ran a non-fusion dual drive (a small SSD and a Hitachi 7200rpm HDD) setup in my Late 2012 for a time and it worked quite well. I never had a problem, but it did get old backing up both drives and so I ended up going to just a large SSD.

  • by mirella b,

    mirella b mirella b Sep 14, 2016 10:51 AM in response to den.thed
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 14, 2016 10:51 AM in response to den.thed

    Late 2012 with a OWC upgrading dual drive kit with a Samsung EVO850 250GB and a Seagate 1TB hybrid.

     

    But I don´t think the ribbon cable is to blame because I did a carbon copy clone each day from each of the internal drives to separated external drives and before installing El Capitan the mini was througly tested using Yosemite for two weeks without any problem.

     

    And I am now answering this post from the same Mini but logged as the other user .

     

    By the way I booted the mini from the external carbon copy clone and the same log in problem  repeated.

     

    Also when I did the the Time Machine restore on the 1TB and booted from it again the login problem.

     

    The new ribbon cable is the one hooking the 1 TB auxiliary

     

    I was thinking to replace the EVO 850 250GB for a EVO 850 500GB and the market cost increased on all Samsung 850 EVO more than 20% in less than 3 weeks when I bought the 250 GB a lot cheaper !!!

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Sep 14, 2016 11:09 AM in response to mirella b
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Sep 14, 2016 11:09 AM in response to mirella b

    Maybe your not starting up or did not start up from the OS X on the same drive every-time...?

    (Check your Startup Disk selection to always be the OS X on the SSD)

     

    For example: I had OS X installed on both internal drives, but always only started up from OS X on the SSD and then accessed my User Data that was on the HDD.

  • by mirella b,

    mirella b mirella b Sep 14, 2016 12:06 PM in response to den.thed
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 14, 2016 12:06 PM in response to den.thed

    Already checked, the SSD is the startup disk and the 1 TB Hybrid has not OS X on it,  only user data ( after the failed restore from the time machine I erased and cloned it from his external asociated HDD

     

    I was speaking with my younger son who has a MBP and El Capitan and he remember that a while ago same thing happened to him but after 3 or 4 hours it fixed by itself and could log in.

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Sep 14, 2016 12:26 PM in response to mirella b
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Sep 14, 2016 12:26 PM in response to mirella b

    I was thinking to replace the EVO 850 250GB for a EVO 850 500GB and the market cost increased on all Samsung 850 EVO more than 20% in less than 3 weeks when I bought the 250 GB a lot cheaper !!!

     

    I'm currently running a $130 PNY 480 GB CS1311 in my 2012 Mac Mini and the speed tests aren't to shabby even with a bunch of apps open and running.

     

    BlackMagic SSD Test1.jpg

     

    I ended up moving the smaller PNY 240 GB from the 2012 Mac Mini to our 2010 Mac Mini and it runs way better than it ever did when it was new.

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Sep 14, 2016 12:35 PM in response to mirella b
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Sep 14, 2016 12:35 PM in response to mirella b

    That sounds like either Spotlight was indexing the drive (drives in this case)...

     

    or something to do with Trim, which I've never enabled on any of my SSDs in OS X.