Kernel Panic preventing login/unlocking drive

[mitchfork]

I have a Macbook Air which is not letting me log in. Here are the full details...

It was in use browsing in Safari when an unexpected kernel panic popped up.

Since then, when trying to log in:

1. I enter the password for the user and hit enter.
2. A horizontal loading bar appears.
3. The loading bar goes about halfway and then a kernel panic occurs. I can't read everything on the dump before it disappears but one of the lines is "Mac OS Version: not yet set"
4. Macbook restarts and goes back to login screen.

I have also tried logging into recovery mode using command+R.

1. Macbook boots into recovery mode normally.
2. I select English as the language.
3. I select "Disk Utility".
4. I have "APPLE SSD AP0128H Media" as an Internal Drive with "Macintosh HD" nested inside it.
5. Running First Aid on APPLE SSD AP0128H doesn't detect any problems.
6. I cannot run First Aid on Macintosh HD; the First Aid, Partition, and Mount buttons are grayed out and unclickable.
7. Macintosh HD is displayed as completely full, 120.01GB of "Other".
8. I exit the Disk Utility and select "Reinstall OS X".
9. I accept the license agreement for OS X El Capitan.
10. I select "Macintosh HD" as the disk to install the OS. I click "Unlock..." since it is encrypted.
11. I enter the password.
12. The computer pauses for several seconds and then I get a kernel panic.

I have also tried online recovery mode using command+alt+r:

1. I select my network and enter my password.
2. A loading bar appears under the spinning globe graphic; it takes about 5 minutes to complete.
3. I select English as the language.
4. I can try to reinstall OS X Mojave, but the same thing as the offline recovery mode occurs.
5. I select "Disk Utility".
6. I see "Macintosh HD" as an Internal drive.
7. Clicking on it reveals that is is not mounted. I can select Partition, Erase, Restore, and Mount at the top of the window.
8. I exit Disk Utility.
9. I enter the terminal.
10. I enter "diskutil list" to see the drives.
11. I see that Macintosh HD is "/dev/disk0s2".
12. I enter "diskutil mount /dev/disk0s2".
13. I receive "disk0s2 is a FileVault or Fusion Drive physical volume; use "diskutil coreStorage list" to find its logical volume, which you can then unlock (if necessary) and mount".
14. I enter "diskutil coreStorage list".
15. I receive the logical volume ID.
16. I enter "diskutil corestorage unlockVolume [volumeID] -stdinpassphrase"
17. I enter the passphrase.
18. The terminal outputs that the volume successfully mounted as disk20; however, within a few seconds, a kernel panic occurs again.

I've repeated the above numerous times and the exact same thing happens. Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

It sounds like you have FileVault enabled, correct? If so, it may be corrupted, which is causing it to not be able to be unlocked. Honestly, the best course of action is to make an appointment at the Apple Store, or call Apple Support directly.

We would hate to suggest something that may cause you to lose your data. Do you happen to have a Time Machine or other backup of your data?

C

 

[mitchfork]

I believe FileVault is enabled based on what I'm seeing from the coreStorage list.

I don't know whether i have a Time Machine backup because in order for me to see the backups, I have to unlock the drive - which causes a kernel panic of course.

Thanks for the response. I'm hoping that there's a way to save the data, but I don't see a way to get to the files at all. I'll leave this one to Apple support...

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, let us know how it goes.

You would have to have Time Machine backups on an external drive, so if you don't have one, then you won't have a backup.

Good luck,

C