Addigy is aware of an issue where some macOS devices performing a system update will reboot to a black screen where only the cursor can be seen and moved. While in this state, the login window never appears. The cursor is visible but the screen is unresponsive.
This issue has been reported since the release of macOS Big Sur.
We have filed 2 Apple Feedbacks with the following case numbers:
- FB12141424
- FB12263143
If you are an Addigy customer and you have a device that is in this state, it's recommended to retrieve RecoveryDiagnose logs and send them to us via a Support ticket, so we can provide them to Apple. The following article details how to get these logs: Running recoverydiagnose in macOS Recovery
Remediation
To get the affected devices out of this state, the auth.db file that macOS uses to generate the login window can be renamed. This will cause the OS to generate a new auth.db file on startup. The commands listed below can be used to rename the current auth.db file.
LiveTerminal
If the device appears as online in Addigy, LiveTerminal can be used to remotely rename the auth.db file, using the following command.
Note: This command will reboot the device after the file is renamed.
sudo mv /System/Volumes/Data/private/var/db/auth.db /System/Volumes/Data/private/var/db/auth.db.bak; sudo shutdown -r now
Terminal in macOS Recovery
If the device does not appear as online in Addigy, the macOS Recovery Terminal utility can be used to rename the file. The following articles detail how to access macOS Recovery:
Note: This command assumes the device hard drive is named Macintosh HD; if the hard drive name is different, modify this command to include the correct name.
mv /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ -\ Data/private/var/db/auth.db /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ -\ Data/private/var/db/auth.db.bak
If the above steps are ineffective, it may be necessary to reinstall macOS to resolve this issue. The steps to reinstall macOS are outlined in Apple's documentation: How to reinstall macOS