Replacing faulty harddrive

fire_c57

Hi,

my first post here, 
got a 2010 27" imac with the original HD (A) and installed an additional SSD (B) for Apps.
All user files are in (A) with system files and Apps in (B).
Here is the problem, (A) is failing, so I swap it with another 3.5" HD (C).
Power up and login screen appears but it said I cant log in my account.  It's probably right as all user files are in (A).

What can I do to get it running again?

I do have a Time Machine Back up of (A) and (B).

Many thanks.

marvin

fire_c57 said:

Hi,

my first post here, 
got a 2010 27" imac with the original HD (A) and installed an additional SSD (B) for Apps.
All user files are in (A) with system files and Apps in (B).
Here is the problem, (A) is failing, so I swap it with another 3.5" HD (C).
Power up and login screen appears but it said I cant log in my account.  It's probably right as all user files are in (A).

What can I do to get it running again?

I do have a Time Machine Back up of (A) and (B).

Many thanks.

Try creating a new admin account in single user mode:

https://anh.do/blog/applesetupdone-catalina

1. Cmd+R to enter Recovery mode

2. Enter account password

3. Use Disk Utilities to mount the FileVault disk (Macintosh HD)

4. rm /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ -\ Data/private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone

5. reboot

In the 4th step, you'd use the name on your particular boot volume. When you reboot, it should run through the setup assistant again. When it runs through the assistant, create a different username than the account you want to restore from backup.

To recover data from the old 3.5", an enclosure like the following will let you mount the drive externally to see if anything can be recovered if needed but if it's all backed up, there might be no need for it:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-Free-Enclosure-Internal-EC-KSL3/dp/B08J5SLTJX

fire_c57

thanks, you just save my butt.