Failed to create activation request - after changing password

[jonros]

Hello everyone,
Earlier today I was helping a colleague at work who couldn't login on a M1 Mac. After Googling a bit I started in recovery mode, opened the Terminal and typed resetpassword. After changing the password and reboot it wanted to activate - after a while we got "Failed to create activation request".

I Googled some more and now I have removed the Mac from my colleagues Apple ID but we still get the same error. Does anyone know what's best to do next? Is it possible to save the data in any way?

[sdagley]

@jonros Does your corporate network perform any SSL inspection on traffic going through your firewall? If so that may be interfering with communication between that Mac and Apple's activation servers. This is the document that lists all of Apple severs that need to be exempted from SSL inspection: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210060

[jonros]

@sdagley I checked with Mac colleagues who works with network and firewall and they told me everything should be ok. I even connected to my private phone as Wi-Fi but it didn't help.

[sdagley]

@jonros Might be time to consult AppleCare on that Mac but you might try doing a DFU restore on it first: https://mrmacintosh.com/restore-macos-firmware-on-an-apple-silicon-mac-boot-to-dfu-mode/

[jonros]

@sdagley Doesn't that erase all the data?

[rcarlosnyc]

A DFU restore would erase all data. It would put it back to the shipping out of the box OS.

[jonros]

Something we really want to avoid in this case if possible. Just have to contact Apple support then. Years of work is on the drive.

[sdagley]

@jonros Have you tried booting that Mac into Target Disk Mode: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/transfer-files-mac-computers-target-disk-mode-mchlp1443/mac

That you've reset the password might prevent that from working, and if you have FileVault enabled the odds of being able to recover anything from that drive are low.