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User profile for user: ab52
ab52 Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

User accounts missing on 2014 MBP 15" SSD after failed OS restore

My son has been using my old 2014 MBP 15" with a 1TB SSD. He ran out of space on the SSD (~60GB left) and the system crashed. After that, it would get as far as the login screen and accepting his password, but then it would go back to the startup screen.


I put it in target disk mode and connected to my 2020 MBP 13" (M1). I could see the user accounts and verify that the drive still had data on it, but I was unable to access the files because I got a password error (I have done this successfully in the past).


I used Apple online help chat and was instructed to reload the OS, but the MBP stalled during installation and has the same problem as before - it won't complete the startup process. But now it only shows the system files, not the user/account files. It does still show that the drive is almost full.


My main concern right now is trying to recover his data, because it wasn't backed up. I removed the SSD and put it in an OWC enclosure to simplify things. Now I can read it as an external drive on my 2020 MBP, and I have the same results. I can't see the User/account files, just the system files, and it shows up on my desktop as a 1TB drive with 60.45GB free. Here's how it looks to Disk Utility. As I recall, if I can find the user files I should be able to access them with the password for the account. I'm looking for the vault password, but that may not be find-able after all these years.


So the question is... is there any way to recover the data from that SSD?


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 6, 2023 9:58 AM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
59,948 points

Posted on Jan 6, 2023 1:01 PM

With macOS 10.15+, the home user folders are stored on the "Data" volume which should be the item labeled "Macintosh HD - Data" in your screenshot. While the "2014 Macintosh HD" volume also has a "Users" folder, it is only used by macOS to link the real one behind the scenes since with macOS 10.15+ the "Macintosh HD" volume has been separated into two separate APFS volumes which are combined together behind the scenes to appear in the Finder as a single volume. You need to locate the "Data" volume which should be mounted in "/Volumes". Sometimes macOS won't automatically mount the "Data" volume, so you may need to use Disk Utility to manually mount it....you can also use Disk Utility to verify the mount point for that volume.


FYI, if data recovery is ever needed, then the source drive should never be modified or the data is put at greater risk of being destroyed. A better option would have been to install macOS to an external drive, then boot from the external drive to attempt to access the data just in case there was an issue accessing the data with the M1 laptop or the newer OS.


As for the permissions issues, that was most likely from the macOS user account on your M1 Mac having a different UserID than the one on the older Mac since many macOS permissions are based on the UserID and not the actual user name. The easiest way to over come this problem is by using the third party app Carbon Copy Cloner which will ask for admin password in order to access areas normally off limits such as other macOS user accounts (or accounts with a different UserID). You can also try copying the individual folders within the macOS user account which are locked to your drive which will automatically convert the permissions on the items copied to your current user account. I dislike advising people to change permissions on the whole user account especially if the user will want to try reinstalling macOS over top of itself since that would prevent a user from being able to log into that account if they are able to get the Mac to boot again.


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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
59,948 points

Jan 6, 2023 1:01 PM in response to ab52

With macOS 10.15+, the home user folders are stored on the "Data" volume which should be the item labeled "Macintosh HD - Data" in your screenshot. While the "2014 Macintosh HD" volume also has a "Users" folder, it is only used by macOS to link the real one behind the scenes since with macOS 10.15+ the "Macintosh HD" volume has been separated into two separate APFS volumes which are combined together behind the scenes to appear in the Finder as a single volume. You need to locate the "Data" volume which should be mounted in "/Volumes". Sometimes macOS won't automatically mount the "Data" volume, so you may need to use Disk Utility to manually mount it....you can also use Disk Utility to verify the mount point for that volume.


FYI, if data recovery is ever needed, then the source drive should never be modified or the data is put at greater risk of being destroyed. A better option would have been to install macOS to an external drive, then boot from the external drive to attempt to access the data just in case there was an issue accessing the data with the M1 laptop or the newer OS.


As for the permissions issues, that was most likely from the macOS user account on your M1 Mac having a different UserID than the one on the older Mac since many macOS permissions are based on the UserID and not the actual user name. The easiest way to over come this problem is by using the third party app Carbon Copy Cloner which will ask for admin password in order to access areas normally off limits such as other macOS user accounts (or accounts with a different UserID). You can also try copying the individual folders within the macOS user account which are locked to your drive which will automatically convert the permissions on the items copied to your current user account. I dislike advising people to change permissions on the whole user account especially if the user will want to try reinstalling macOS over top of itself since that would prevent a user from being able to log into that account if they are able to get the Mac to boot again.


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User profile for user: ab52
ab52 Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jan 7, 2023 7:50 AM in response to HWTech

Thank you again. I downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner and used it to do a backup from the original SSD to another external SSD. As you said, all the user and account info showed up in the copy even though they don't appear in the original SSD.


Then - as you suggested - I copied the locked files/folders to my desktop to convert the permissions to my current user account. I never would have thought of that - in fact, if I had known that I probably could have dragged them to my desktop while the SSD was still in the old MBP using Target Disk Mode (that must be how I was able to do it when I first bought the 2020 MBP but I didn't realize at the time that that step changed the permissions).


Thanks to your help, when my son picks up his new M2 MBA tomorrow or Monday, all his data will be ready for him (along with backup instructions). The online chat help from Apple didn't solve the problem, the Genius Bar didn't solve the problem, but your help saved the data and saved the day.

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User accounts missing on 2014 MBP 15" SSD after failed OS restore

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