new MacBook Pro / El Capitan locks me out

[gregorywrites]

Yikes! Bought a new MacBook Pro in December 2015 – 13", 128GB. Updated all the software. Running El Capitan 10.11.2. When I boot up by pressing the power button (or key) I see an icon (red lipstick) and my name and underneath that is the password entry line, and underneath that I see "Restart" and "Shutdown."

So I enter my password, and the computer gives me an uh-uh, you can't come in. I click on Shutdown, and then I reboot using the power key, and I'm presented with the same options. I carefully type in my password, and the computer says no again. I click Shutdown, and then reboot again by pressing the power key. Third time, I type in my password and – voilà – I'm in.

But wait! There's more. a.) This only happens once every three or four log-in attempts. b.) let me assure you, I'm not making a typo when I enter my password. It's the same password I've used on three previous MacBooks, and I've never had this problem before. c.) If I simply close the computer's case and come back after lunch or even the next morning, then when I open the computer I see the icon and the password line, and I enter the password, and I'm in. It always works if I've only closed the case.

So why does it only happen from a cold boot? And why does it let me in after three tries? And, once again, I'm not making a typo when I enter the password, so I know that's not the issue. This is my fourth MacBook – three MacBook Air's and now this MacBook Pro, and I've always used the same password and never before had this problem.

Any ideas?

thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

My first thought is that you may be typing the password correctly, but you may have an intermittent keyboard that does not respond every time to your keypresses. And, intermittently is missing one or more characters. Watch the asterisks as you type. See if they repeat each time you press a key, either missing strokes, or showing two characters when you only press one.

 

[simonsi]

Have you enabled FileVault?

 

[gregorywrites]

hello simonsi

Yes, FireVault is turned on. Would this affect login?

.

 

[DeltaMac]

If you shut the lid, then your Macbook is sleeping, and you just wake it up. FileVault requires a user login then, as normal.
If you shut down (your Macbook is OFF) Filevault locks your drive, then next restart means that you unlock the volume (Filevault), then again log in to your user account to use your Macbook.

Why would gregorywrites fail login, restart, then fails again, restart, then login is successful.
Wouldn't Filevault affect restart in the same way each time?

@gregorywrites: turn off Filevault, then use your Macbook Pro for a few days, along with shutdown/restart as you would normally do. You can leave the system set to show the login screen when you restart (you don't have that option with Filevault, you always have to log in). You would want to see if your login difficulties are gone when Filevault is turned off. If you still have problems with login, then it's not Filevault.

 

[simonsi]

So if it only on a cold start then I would guess the issue is with Filevault as that is the only time the FV password is asked for...

 

[simonsi]

If you shut the lid, then your Macbook is sleeping, and you just wake it up. FileVault requires a user login then, as normal.

Not in my experience, FV2 passwords on my volumes only asked for on a cold boot, not a wake from sleep as the keys are still in NVRAM...

 

[DeltaMac]

I misspoke - Let me say this differently (more accurate, I think):
Filevault does not allow an automatic user login. Waking from sleep would ask for user account password, same as restart.
Cold boot (from shutdown) needs to unlock filevault, then user login, so two steps to login for a cold boot.
Better?

 

[dsemf]

I misspoke - Let me say this differently (more accurate, I think):
Filevault does not allow an automatic user login. Waking from sleep would ask for user account password, same as restart.
Cold boot (from shutdown) needs to unlock filevault, then user login, so two steps to login for a cold boot.
Better?

Uh? From a cold start, after the chime, I get a logon screen with the 3 users on my system. After I enter the password for one of them, the FV is unlocked, the system is loaded and I end up at the desktop. There is no second logon required.

Maybe the difference is how I built the system. I did a clean install for Yosemite, but did not let the installer create the FV. I did that manually after creating the 3 users. The subsequent updates to Yosemite plus in-place updates to El Capitan public beta and final release have not changed the cold start behavior.

DS

 

[simonsi]

I misspoke - Let me say this differently (more accurate, I think):
Filevault does not allow an automatic user login. Waking from sleep would ask for user account password, same as restart.
Cold boot (from shutdown) needs to unlock filevault, then user login, so two steps to login for a cold boot.
Better?

Exactly my point, if he ONLY gets the issue from a cold boot, it points to the FV unlocking IMHO

 

[gregorywrites]

Hello DeltaMac and simonsi ~

Thanks for posting your ideas. I appreciate your help. In light of some of the things you have posted:

When I start the new MBPro (El Capitan v. 10.11.2; FireVault enabled) from a cold boot, I hear the chime, I see an icon (the red lipstick), and I see my name and a slot to enter my password. Below that I see "Restart," and "Shutdown." When things go properly I simply enter the password, hit the Enter (Return) key, and away we go. So only one step to log in from a cold boot.

If I'm merely waking the computer from sleep, I see the icon and the password slot when I open the case, and I enter the password, and away we go. Once again, it's only a one-step procedure to get in from a sleep.

But sometimes – perhaps only once every three or four or maybe five or six starts from a cold boot – sometimes the computer says uh-uh, and won't let me in. When that happens, I click on Shutdown. Then I press the power key, and when I see the screen with the icon and my name and the password slot, I enter the password again – and usually I am denied a second time. So I click on Shutdown, and go through the process a third time, and it works. Everything seems to point to me making a typo when entering the password, but I can assure you that I'm sober and clear-eyed and typing carefully, and – perhaps more important – I have used this password and login procedure for three previous MacBooks (Airs) without any problems.

A buddy here suggested I enable the Guest User account. I had disabled Guest User when setting up my System Preferences. Why would that make a difference? But, hey, I'll try it.

Stay tuned, folks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year!

Greg
.

 

[simonsi]

When you enabled Filevault and logged in have you ever selected to remember the FV password in your Keychain?

 

[Weaselboy]

But sometimes – perhaps only once every three or four or maybe five or six starts from a cold boot – sometimes the computer says uh-uh, and won't let me in. When that happens, I click on Shutdown.

When you get the jiggly poof business, what happens if you just keep reentering the password without rebooting?

Do you happen to have an old USB keyboard laying around you could try to eliminate the keyboard as the issue. It can even be a PC keyboard.

 

[gregorywrites]

When you get the jiggly poof business, what happens if you just keep reentering the password without rebooting?

Do you happen to have an old USB keyboard laying around you could try to eliminate the keyboard as the issue. It can even be a PC keyboard.

Hello, Weaselboy, gregorywrites here

Thanks for your enquiry. On the two most recent occasions on which the MBPro has denied entry from a cold boot, I have simply re-entered the password without rebooting. On each of those two occasions (events?) the computer has let me in on that second try.

I do not have another keyboard, but based on my rather extensive use of the keyboard on this new MBPro (I write for a living), I can report that I never see a keyboard-related problem as I create my documents.

I have created a Startup Log. If this phantom-like login problem continues for a few more days, I'm going to take the computer back to the Apple store where I bought it, and exchange it for another new one.

..

 

[Weaselboy]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Just for grins.... try a NVRAM reset. Sometimes that can fix these weird boot issues.

 

[gregorywrites]

Hey, simonsi, dsemf, DeltaMac, and Weaselboy, I think I've found the problem with this new MBPro sporadically locking me out!

First of all, the problem event occurs only when starting from a cold boot. And it has only been happening on some tries, and not others.

My password is all UPPER CASE. When I press the power key to start from a cold boot, I am presented with the circular icon (red lipstick), and underneath that I see my name, and under that, a "slot," (a line) into which I enter my password. Beneath that I see two circles, "Restart," and "Shutdown."

When I press the caps lock key to enter my password, the little green light appears on the key and an upward-pointing arrow appears at the right-hand end of the password line, and next to it appears a question mark – ? This is intended to warn you that your caps lock key is on, in case you don't intend it. Because my password is all upper case, however, I do intend to have the caps lock key on, and I go ahead and type in my password. Usually this works, and I'm in.

This morning, however, after being denied entry, I re-entered the password to try again, and was denied entry a second time. Then I noticed that although the caps lock key was on (with the little green light), the arrow and the question mark at the end of the password line did not appear. Huh? So I pressed the caps lock key a few times and what I discovered was that sometimes the green light stayed on through several consecutive activations (presses) of the caps lock key, and sometimes the green light stayed off through several consecutive activations of the caps lock key. Wow! And then I noticed that sometimes, when the green light did go on and off with consecutive activations of the key (as it should), the arrow and the question mark either appeared, or did not appear. So there is some kind of malfunction with the caps lock key!

Screw it, I'm taking the computer back to the Apple store where I bought it, and exchanging it for another one.

..

 

[DeltaMac]

Ah, a flaky keyboard! Who woulda thought?
Or - maybe just a hint that a "convenience" password that lets you enter it with caps lock on, might not be your best choice.

 

[Weaselboy]

So there is some kind of malfunction with the caps lock key!

Whew... glad you sorted it out.