The next step I have used and seen recommended after recoveryOS is single user mode, which is what I think I used to solve the same issue on an old mac. I vaguely remember another reason I used single user mode where recovery mode failed but I do not remember any details.

My bet is that you can get nearly the same functionality with single user mode vs booting from external media, but I only have a vague understanding of the limitations of all three modes from 3-5 uses via tutorials.