Keyboard & Mouse stops working when Filevault is on

[kagharaht]

Another weird one happening. If I enable Filevault on this Late 2013 iMac with Catalina, reboots, disabled the BT Keyboard and Mouse that came with it. It even disabled Apple Keyboard and Mouse plugged in USB. You literally have to force shut down the Mac or let it shut down and reboot, then you can log back in as expected. Soon as you shut down and start up it disables them every time. Restarts seems to not disabled it. Turning off Filevault stops that weirdness. So now I can no longer enable Filevault on this old iMac Late 2013 stuck in Catalina. Amazing. lol

 

[kagharaht]

So this workaround is consistent. When it tells you to shut down and boot up again, it will go into recovery mode immediately. Don't reset your password or even click where keyboard doesn't work selection to decrypt the HD. Just click the Apple logo top left and select restart. It will reboot and your keyboard and mouse will work again. Also standard Restart seems to work so far in allowing to use the keyboard and mouse again with Filevault enabled on Catalina Late 2013 iMac.

 

[P-Dawg]

FileVault adds an additional layer of encryption to your computer as a security measure. Due to this, when your computer is restarted or booted after a shutdown, FileVault will actually disable ALL Bluetooth enabled devices, not allowing you to type in your password once prompted. The only devices that will still work upon restart are those that are proprietary to Apple, as those devices have preprogrammed firmware, allowing the keyboard to be recognised by the computer even though FileVault is enabled. For third party Bluetooth devices the only way to get the computer to read these devices upon restart would be to turn off FileVault entirely.

 

[kagharaht]

FileVault adds an additional layer of encryption to your computer as a security measure. Due to this, when your computer is restarted or booted after a shutdown, FileVault will actually disable ALL Bluetooth enabled devices, not allowing you to type in your password once prompted. The only devices that will still work upon restart are those that are proprietary to Apple, as those devices have preprogrammed firmware, allowing the keyboard to be recognised by the computer even though FileVault is enabled. For third party Bluetooth devices the only way to get the computer to read these devices upon restart would be to turn off FileVault entirely.

You are right! These are BT Keyboard bought at the Apple Store (Apple Brand). I bet you are right since these are not what shipped with the Late 2013 iMac. The original took 3 batteries and this one takes 2. The BT Mouse was replaced with BT Trackpad. Both Apple products at the Apple store. The difference is that it was purchased later on.