unable to put database in archivelog mode

We have a database environment refresh process that is taking too long. That process exports a subset of data from production database, drops existing dev schema, imports production export. To speed things up I want to take the database out of archivelog mode prior to dropping the schema and placing it back into archivelog mode after import completes. After the refresh completes, we need to create a restore point to enable the developers to rerun tests with the database as it is immediately after refresh. That requires archivelog mode.

I'm currently testing the addition of the commands to take the database into and out of archivelog mode in the script that automates all of this. I've had several instances where I get "ORA-00265: instance recovery required, cannot set ARCHIVELOG mode" that is usually remedied by opening the database and shutting it down again in NORMAL mode. However, as of right now, no matter what I do, I can't get the database back into archivelog mode.

I've restarted the database multiple times. Recovered the database through RMAN. Checked to see if any transactions are rolling back (nothing). Confirmed no instances are up after shutdown. Left the database alone overnight in case that magically fixes something. Nothing seems to work. However, the database opens just fine.

Has anyone seen this before?

My last attempt to fix this was simply:

"Srvctl stop database -d xxx -o normal"

Confirm no pmon for instances on either server.
"srvctl start instance -d xxx -I xxx1 -o mount"
SQL>alter database archivelog;
alter database archivelog
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00265: instance recovery required, cannot set ARCHIVELOG mode

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