I'm back to having some real trouble again. To reiterate, my iMac is a 21.5" Late '12 i5 2.9GHz 16GB RAM running 10.14.6. I replaced the original failing HD with our sponsor's 500GB SSD. I was helped by this august forum when I forgot the password and was sent a link on how to re-run the OS X Setup assistant which worked just fine-although the instructions are a little unclear, like it says to hold down the command-s keys when starting up. Did that mean Command, hyphen, and s keys? I did both (without the hyphen) and got it to work, so...

Well, now, I did all that and with the new SSD, I choose an icon to associate with my password. But for various reasons, I've been operating from a bootable external SSD, running 10.14.6 also, because my old PS CS6 won't work with my new internal SSD; an Adobe window keeps popping up telling me I need to subscribe to use CS6, even tho it's a purchased pre-subscription app! A whole 'nother issue.

So I've been using my external (10.14.6) which I can use CS6 on, and I've been on it for a bit, and after a job that took awhile I decided to get back to the internal to see if I can get CS6 working properly, especially as I was getting some weirdnesses when I slept my machine when running off the external. When I woke it up in the morning, it would come on for a minute, I'd put in my PW, and then it would freeze! I restarted it and it would be fine for a day or two then freeze again...

OK. I restart, wait for the Startup Disk screen icon and-no icon! Just the old icon that I forgot the first password to, not the new password I had just set up! Restart, yep, old icon. Well, it worked before so I try re-running the Apple Setup Assistant, but no dice. Try again and still when I reboot it starts into the old icon screen!

Man. Getting really frustrated now and am getting tired of hearing the starting BONG over and over and over...

I decide that I just better go back to running off of the external for now so I restart holding down the Option key and-no Startup Disk screen! What? It just goes into the old icon start screen. Try it again. BONG! Old icon start screen again!

As a result, I can't use my machine. I don't know the password to the old icon, and it won't reboot using the Option key to show my externals.

Let me ask you all this: is the password for the first iteration in the Keychain Access? I tried looking there first but I found nothing there that even looked halfway like it. Of course, I can't even get to KA anyway right now...

I have received help PM'ing another member here and have gotten the opinion that my logic board may-MAY!-be shot and it is time for a new machine. But before I buy a replacement it was suggested I throw this out to the forum, just in case. Another reason this forum is so valuable when the most knowledgeable people can recommend second opinions...

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Resident Cardinal...








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My name is DP, and I approve this message.

Boot into Recovery mode (CMD - R) and run first aid, reinstall the OS, etc. from there. Your External shield be available there as well.

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

Might be that your keyboard is being ignored - try it on another USB port on the mac (not hub). Try another keyboard. If you have been using a BT keyboard, use a USB

Not sure what all the other forum member walked you through, but have you reset pram?:

(Copied from the web) Here’s how to reset your PRAM:

Shut down your machine. Yes, all the way down, not sleep or logging out.
Press the power button and then press command-option-p-r. You have to make sure you get those keys pressed before the gray screen comes up or it won’t work.
Hold those keys down until your Mac reboots again and you hear the startup chime.
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally.

Reset SMC:

For Mac Minis, Mac Pros, iMacs, and Xserves:

Shut the machine down
Unplug it from the power
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds
Plug it back in and turn it on.

Another option I’d suggest is to boot into single user mode and run ‘fsck’ command:
See [www.google.com]

Be sure to run it a second time if it comes back as ok but ‘modified’. It may take a few minutes to run, but it’ll give you an ok, or ok but modified, status when it’s done. Type ‘reboot’ at the prompt when it’s finished to restart normally (not in safe mode).

Any time there is a key combination, it’s always shown as + or - between the keys. For example, command-s is the Command (key with the propeller logo beside the space bar) and the S key only (no minus or dash key involved). Also, if you hold down just the Option key while starting up it will bring up a screen with the available drives you can choose to boot into. I don’t believe the mouse works on that screen, so you’ll have to arrow to your choice and hit return to boot into it. Finally, you will have faster boot times if you physically select a boot drive in the Startup menu in System Settings.

Thx, all. Will try these suggestions tomorrow. Long day today-other crap going on besides a machine not playing nice...

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Resident Cardinal...








Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.