Option-Boot Password Lock - Help!

satcomer said:

That looks like a firmware lock. Remove/Replace your RAM to see if that old trick works to clear the lock.

Click to expand...

diskutil list

diskutil mount disk0s3

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

Mr Rabbit said:

Thats a MacBook Air though, the "change the amount of installed RAM and zap the PRAM/NVRAM" trick doesn't apply to them. They would need to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who would then contact Apple to have the lock cleared.

With that said, that's definitely the EFI password screen. You can enable/disable it from the recovery partition, using the Firmware Password Utility found under the Utilities menu.

The problem though is that if you don't know the EFI password you can't hold "R" or use "option" when booting to get to the recovery partition. If you're comfortable using the Terminal you can use a few simple commands to tell your MacBook Air to boot to the recovery partition on only the next boot....

First you'll need to open Terminal and use diskutil to find the disk/volume for your recovery partition.

Code:

diskutil list

This should return a few lines similar to this example: (ignore the dots, they are only there to create filler space)
3: ....... Apple_Boot ....... Recovery HD ....... 650MB ....... disk0s3

In this example the Recovery partition is named "Recovery HD" and is located on disk identifier "disk0s3". Make a note of the name and disk identifier and move on.

Next you'll want to actually mount the Recovery partition, using the disk identifier you found above, in this example it is disk0s3.

Code:

diskutil mount disk0s3

You should now see your Recovery HD partition mounted on your Desktop or in Finder.

Now we'll tell the Mac to boot to the Recovery partition, which should allow you to go in and remove the EFI password. Again, in the example the partition name is Recovery HD but yours may be different.

Code:

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

The bless command is enabling the Recovery HD volume to be used as a boot drive, the setboot flag tells your Mac to use it as the startup volume and the nextonly flag tells your Mac to only apply this command for the next boot, subsequent boots will revert to the original startup disk. You'll be asked to enter your password, once you do so and hit enter the change will be made.

You can now shutdown your Mac, power it back on and it should boot directly to the Recovery partition, where you can find the Firmware Password utility under the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

Click to expand...

Mr Rabbit said:

Thats a MacBook Air though, the "change the amount of installed RAM and zap the PRAM/NVRAM" trick doesn't apply to them. They would need to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who would then contact Apple to have the lock cleared.

With that said, that's definitely the EFI password screen. You can enable/disable it from the recovery partition, using the Firmware Password Utility found under the Utilities menu.

The problem though is that if you don't know the EFI password you can't hold "R" or use "option" when booting to get to the recovery partition. If you're comfortable using the Terminal you can use a few simple commands to tell your MacBook Air to boot to the recovery partition on only the next boot....

First you'll need to open Terminal and use diskutil to find the disk/volume for your recovery partition.

Code:

diskutil list

This should return a few lines similar to this example: (ignore the dots, they are only there to create filler space)
3: ....... Apple_Boot ....... Recovery HD ....... 650MB ....... disk0s3

In this example the Recovery partition is named "Recovery HD" and is located on disk identifier "disk0s3". Make a note of the name and disk identifier and move on.

Next you'll want to actually mount the Recovery partition, using the disk identifier you found above, in this example it is disk0s3.

Code:

diskutil mount disk0s3

You should now see your Recovery HD partition mounted on your Desktop or in Finder.

Now we'll tell the Mac to boot to the Recovery partition, which should allow you to go in and remove the EFI password. Again, in the example the partition name is Recovery HD but yours may be different.

Code:

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

The bless command is enabling the Recovery HD volume to be used as a boot drive, the setboot flag tells your Mac to use it as the startup volume and the nextonly flag tells your Mac to only apply this command for the next boot, subsequent boots will revert to the original startup disk. You'll be asked to enter your password, once you do so and hit enter the change will be made.

You can now shutdown your Mac, power it back on and it should boot directly to the Recovery partition, where you can find the Firmware Password utility under the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

Click to expand...

gblax said:

Yep I have successfully entered the PIN many times (every time I Option-Boot), yet it keeps coming back. I also tried remote locking again through iCloud and re-authenticating, yet the issue persists.

This passcode lock is different than the standard iCloud lock, as there are no other options on screen and it only occurs when Option-Booting.

Click to expand...

ToddJ said:

what is the 'change amount of ram and then zap the pram/Nvram'...i am having the same problem you had, but mine is on an old MacBook Pro which i can switch out the ram

Click to expand...

Mr Rabbit said:

Thats a MacBook Air though, the "change the amount of installed RAM and zap the PRAM/NVRAM" trick doesn't apply to them. They would need to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who would then contact Apple to have the lock cleared.

With that said, that's definitely the EFI password screen. You can enable/disable it from the recovery partition, using the Firmware Password Utility found under the Utilities menu.

The problem though is that if you don't know the EFI password you can't hold "R" or use "option" when booting to get to the recovery partition. If you're comfortable using the Terminal you can use a few simple commands to tell your MacBook Air to boot to the recovery partition on only the next boot....

First you'll need to open Terminal and use diskutil to find the disk/volume for your recovery partition.

Code:

diskutil list

This should return a few lines similar to this example: (ignore the dots, they are only there to create filler space)
3: ....... Apple_Boot ....... Recovery HD ....... 650MB ....... disk0s3

In this example the Recovery partition is named "Recovery HD" and is located on disk identifier "disk0s3". Make a note of the name and disk identifier and move on.

Next you'll want to actually mount the Recovery partition, using the disk identifier you found above, in this example it is disk0s3.

Code:

diskutil mount disk0s3

You should now see your Recovery HD partition mounted on your Desktop or in Finder.

Now we'll tell the Mac to boot to the Recovery partition, which should allow you to go in and remove the EFI password. Again, in the example the partition name is Recovery HD but yours may be different.

Code:

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

The bless command is enabling the Recovery HD volume to be used as a boot drive, the setboot flag tells your Mac to use it as the startup volume and the nextonly flag tells your Mac to only apply this command for the next boot, subsequent boots will revert to the original startup disk. You'll be asked to enter your password, once you do so and hit enter the change will be made.

You can now shutdown your Mac, power it back on and it should boot directly to the Recovery partition, where you can find the Firmware Password utility under the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

Click to expand...

gblax said:

Mr. Rabbit - thank you!!!! This solved my problem with ease!

Never knew that this was an option, and I have no idea why a remote lock of my Mac would trigger a firmware password to be enabled, but your advice solved the problem.

Many thanks!

Click to expand...

gblax said:

Mr. Rabbit - thank you!!!! This solved my problem with ease!

Never knew that this was an option, and I have no idea why a remote lock of my Mac would trigger a firmware password to be enabled, but your advice solved the problem.

Many thanks!

Click to expand...

Yullah said:

Please what steps did you take to get into the terminal

please can you tell me the procedures you took to get to the terminal. Am not able to move to anywhere other than the windows 7 that I installed.

Click to expand...

Mr Rabbit said:

Sorry about the late reply, been out of town.

The old trick to bypass a firmware lock is that you can change the amount of installed RAM (either by installing a different sized DIMM or removing one of the currently installed DIMMs) and reset the PRAM/NVRAM to clear out the firmware lock.

To start... Remove the bottom case to access the RAM. If you have two DIMMs installed (2GB + 2GB for example) you can remove one of them and set it off to the side. Do not power on your Mac yet.

Now that the amount of RAM installed is different (2GB using the example above) you will need to reset the PRAM/NVRAM. To do this you will hold down command+option+P+R while powering on your Mac. Keep holding these four keys until your Mac has chimed 3 times. After the third chime I would release all four of the keys and let the Mac boot all the way.

Once the Mac has booted I would shut it down and power it back on again while holding the option key in order to see if the lock has been cleared. If so, go ahead and reinstall the RAM.

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

Mr Rabbit said:

Thats a MacBook Air though, the "change the amount of installed RAM and zap the PRAM/NVRAM" trick doesn't apply to them. They would need to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who would then contact Apple to have the lock cleared.

With that said, that's definitely the EFI password screen. You can enable/disable it from the recovery partition, using the Firmware Password Utility found under the Utilities menu.

The problem though is that if you don't know the EFI password you can't hold "R" or use "option" when booting to get to the recovery partition. If you're comfortable using the Terminal you can use a few simple commands to tell your MacBook Air to boot to the recovery partition on only the next boot....

First you'll need to open Terminal and use diskutil to find the disk/volume for your recovery partition.

Code:

diskutil list

This should return a few lines similar to this example: (ignore the dots, they are only there to create filler space)
3: ....... Apple_Boot ....... Recovery HD ....... 650MB ....... disk0s3

In this example the Recovery partition is named "Recovery HD" and is located on disk identifier "disk0s3". Make a note of the name and disk identifier and move on.

Next you'll want to actually mount the Recovery partition, using the disk identifier you found above, in this example it is disk0s3.

Code:

diskutil mount disk0s3

You should now see your Recovery HD partition mounted on your Desktop or in Finder.

Now we'll tell the Mac to boot to the Recovery partition, which should allow you to go in and remove the EFI password. Again, in the example the partition name is Recovery HD but yours may be different.

Code:

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

The bless command is enabling the Recovery HD volume to be used as a boot drive, the setboot flag tells your Mac to use it as the startup volume and the nextonly flag tells your Mac to only apply this command for the next boot, subsequent boots will revert to the original startup disk. You'll be asked to enter your password, once you do so and hit enter the change will be made.

You can now shutdown your Mac, power it back on and it should boot directly to the Recovery partition, where you can find the Firmware Password utility under the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

Click to expand...

Mr Rabbit said:

Thats a MacBook Air though, the "change the amount of installed RAM and zap the PRAM/NVRAM" trick doesn't apply to them. They would need to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who would then contact Apple to have the lock cleared.

With that said, that's definitely the EFI password screen. You can enable/disable it from the recovery partition, using the Firmware Password Utility found under the Utilities menu.

The problem though is that if you don't know the EFI password you can't hold "R" or use "option" when booting to get to the recovery partition. If you're comfortable using the Terminal you can use a few simple commands to tell your MacBook Air to boot to the recovery partition on only the next boot....

First you'll need to open Terminal and use diskutil to find the disk/volume for your recovery partition.

Code:

diskutil list

This should return a few lines similar to this example: (ignore the dots, they are only there to create filler space)
3: ....... Apple_Boot ....... Recovery HD ....... 650MB ....... disk0s3

In this example the Recovery partition is named "Recovery HD" and is located on disk identifier "disk0s3". Make a note of the name and disk identifier and move on.

Next you'll want to actually mount the Recovery partition, using the disk identifier you found above, in this example it is disk0s3.

Code:

diskutil mount disk0s3

You should now see your Recovery HD partition mounted on your Desktop or in Finder.

Now we'll tell the Mac to boot to the Recovery partition, which should allow you to go in and remove the EFI password. Again, in the example the partition name is Recovery HD but yours may be different.

Code:

sudo bless -mount /Volumes/Recovery\ HD -setboot -nextonly

The bless command is enabling the Recovery HD volume to be used as a boot drive, the setboot flag tells your Mac to use it as the startup volume and the nextonly flag tells your Mac to only apply this command for the next boot, subsequent boots will revert to the original startup disk. You'll be asked to enter your password, once you do so and hit enter the change will be made.

You can now shutdown your Mac, power it back on and it should boot directly to the Recovery partition, where you can find the Firmware Password utility under the Utilities menu in the menu bar.

Click to expand...