Mac OS X continuously asks for password at login screen

Question

As shown in the attached image, I'm continuously getting the login screen asking my password. When I enter the correct password, it does not accept it.

What could be wrong, or what can I do to get past this?

Answer 1

Unless you post some clarification, I'm going to ignore the iPhone and virtual machine tags, and assume you're using a normal hardware Mac.

First of all, be sure you are actually entering the correct password - the most common problem is case sensitivity - i.e. the password you enter must have the same combination of upper and lower case letters as if did when you entered it originally. Also make sure that your caps lock key isn't on (though Mac OS X warns you of this IIRC). Another problem could be if your password contains unusual or non-English characters (symbols, characters with accents etc.) and you've changed which input method your keyboard uses, you may not be typing what you expect - use the name field to check you're typing any unusual characters correctly.

If you can't get access, and you're sure you're typing the correct password, you'll need to re-set your password. If you (or someone you can borrow) has access to another administrator account on the Mac, you can reset the password for your account in the 'Users' section of System Preferences. If you don't have access to any administrator accounts, you can restart from the install CD that should have come with your Mac or a retail Mac OS X install DVD and choose 'Password Reset' from the 'Utilities' menu once it's started up. More detailed instructions here.

Answer 2

Is this a clean install? If so, maybe you put the password in wrong both times. (Yes, it can happen, it's happened to me before.)

Answer 3

I had this. My problem was that I had used the OSX on-screen keyboard and put it in caps lock mode.

There is no way to get out of this on the login screen using the caps lock key. It won't flip it!

I managed by going to shutdown - where I got to enter a user account – not password – and here I discovered the caps that wouldn't go away. But it would there.