Mysterious login/password woes after migrating to Catalina After migrating to Catalina, login after restart and after change-user feature different users/passwords, please help!
I recently set up my new Airbook laptop with a fresh MacOS 10.15.7 and used the TimeMachine (full backup); at the same time I migrated from HighSierra to Catalina. Everything OK, until I restarted for the first time: my password did no longer work. I tried Recovery Mode, resetpassword, and to my surprise, it listed 3 accounts that were different from the accounts appearing after the restart, that is:
resetpassword: g.f. (my account, I think), root1 and adm;
after_restart: gf, root1 and another_user.
I reset all passwords, and after restart, I still could not log into gf, but I could log into root1. As root1, I could change the password for gf, via &quot;System Preferences&quot;; that possibility is greyed out ever since. I did change-user, clicked on gf (surprisingly I see the default Catalina background image, not the one I set myself), and now I could login with the password I always used before that &quot;first restart after migration&quot;.
Only via changing the user (once logged in via root1) and via a login screen that then features the Catalina image, I can currently access my account, and I fear that even this may be disabled after the next restart. When I'm logged in, and I do &quot;su root1&quot;, &quot;sudo passwd gf&quot; asks for the Old Password, and entering the password-I-always-used:
passwd: Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid. Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid.
Trying &quot;sysadminctl -resetPasswordFor gf -newPassword xxxx&quot; fails, too:
sysadminctl[19219:817916] Operation is not permitted without secure token unlock.
Moreover, as gf and as root1, using sysadminctl, I find that &quot;Secure token is ENABLED for user gf&quot;. However,
sysadminctl -secureTokenOn gf thepasswordIknow
returns &quot;Operation is not permitted without secure token unlock&quot;. Moreover, as root1,
sudo sysadminctl -adminUser root1 -adminPassword - -secureTokenOn gf -password -
returns &quot;Incorrect password for user gf&quot;, if I use the thepasswordIknow.
What to do? (Why are there two distinct lists of accounts?)
Please help... I fear this nightmare gets worse and then I cannot access my account any longer.
I'm grateful for any hints
gf
I’m a big fan of using the Apple graphical tools since they help make it clear what’s being done.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reset-your-mac-login-password-mh35902/mac
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860