My wife has a 2014 macbook air with a 128 SSD. She wants to upgrade to a larger drive. I hear a lot about EFI lock, iCloud lock, pin lock and so on. My question is, If i buy a used SSD and it is in some way locked can it lock or in some way damage her machine if i put it in ? or will i be able to just put the old one back in? what should i watch out for ?
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advise on buying a used SSD
- Thread starter sundown1957
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All that stuff should not interfere with an ssd but if you are worried then reformat it when you get it.
Nothing you can watch out for really I think there are some SSD status apps you can download to check out wear levelling and stuff like that but other than that they tend to work or not work.
Nothing you can watch out for really I think there are some SSD status apps you can download to check out wear levelling and stuff like that but other than that they tend to work or not work.
i thought about formatting it before i put it in but this is a 28 pin, 12+16. seems no one makes an adapter to connect it to usb. so i can't format it till i install it . my only concern is if it could some how lock the machine i am putting it in.
No I don't think so, I have never heard any reports of this happening EFI works slightly wierdly on macs but it should be ok, I think you are worrying about nothing.
I think you are right to be concerned. From what I have read if the iCloud Find my Mac wipe/lock was activated on the machine that drive was in, there is a file placed on the drive that locks the drive if it is put back in that same machine. You can see it in this post. What I recall reading is even if you manage to bypass the EFI (firmware) based iCloud PIN lock, you need to remove that lock file from the drive otherwise the lock will be reapplied if you boot to the disk. So my concern would be if the FMM lock was placed on that drive, might it apply the PIN lock to your Mac if you booted to the drive?
I Googled around a little just now and can't find a definitive answer to this. But I'd say it is a legit concern.
The safe way would be to mount the drive externally then format the whole disk, but like you said, since nobody makes an enclosure to do this there is no way to format externally.
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I spent a few days searching this question before posting it in here and couldn't find any thing on it . I know its a long shot that this could happen but its my WIFE`s machine. If i brick it the next post to this thread will likley not be from me but more likely about what happen to me .
I hear you my friend... we don't want you on the Missus' bad side.
I have an idea. How about you make a USB key OS installer then install the used drive and option key boot to the USB key (test boot to the key on another machine first to make sure it works). That way even if there is a lock on the drive it would not try and boot to it and potentially lock your machine. The once booted to the USB key, you could use Disk Utility to erase the entire disk and install a fresh OS on there from the USB key. It seems to me that would avoid any potential issue here?
thats what i was thinking . I have a usb external backup. I was thinking of putting in the ssd then booting to recovery and formatting it before i even try to boot from itI hear you my friend... we don't want you on the Missus' bad side.
I have an idea. How about you make a USB key OS installer then install the used drive and option key boot to the USB key (test boot to the key on another machine first to make sure it works). That way even if there is a lock on the drive it would not try and boot to it and potentially lock your machine. The once booted to the USB key, you could use Disk Utility to erase the entire disk and install a fresh OS on there from the USB key. It seems to me that would avoid any potential issue here?