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Lost Macbook

J

Jack99999999

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2016
4
0
UK
I lost my macbook pro in university campus. some say it was here, some say one took it to the department so seeker could get it providing his identification. but i am really unable to find it and nobody in the department has received such. it tried to use icloud.com but its offline.

is there any way i could find it ? can i brick it like iphone ? and use it later after restoring and logging in my apple id ?? but not anyone else ? (in case somebody in the department has received but not yet submitted it to right counter)

Please help asap ... i know nothing about mac.
 
Log into icloud.com and choose Find iPhone (despite it being a Mac). Drop down "All Devices" and choose the Mac, then select "Notify me when found" and select the Lock option.

Thankfully I haven't had the need to try this myself, but I believe that it'll "check in" next time it's turned on, and you'll get some sort of alert (email?) that probably has its coordinates.
 
Nermal said:
Log into icloud.com and choose Find iPhone (despite it being a Mac). Drop down "All Devices" and choose the Mac, then select "Notify me when found" and select the Lock option.
Click to expand...

Done this .. some people say this lock can be broken easily with minor efforts. It can't be bricked , as iphone can be. one can easily keep it after restoring it. is it true ?
 
If the computer has been wiped, you are out of luck. No way to track it or ‘brick’ it. Macs from 2010 and newer are able to be locked down with a firmware password that would prevent just that. You seem unaware of this feature so I’m going to assume you did not have it enabled. Next time firmware lock your mac and encrypt the drive, this will at the very least protect your data and make it impossible for the would be thief to use as is but of course everything other than the logic board could still be parted out and sold to make a buck (not a likely scenario as everything is more or less soldered/glued together).

You can set a firmware password on these Macs:
mac-firmware-lock-icon.png



Enabling Find My Mac also sets a firmware password. Did you by any chance have Find My Mac enabled?

Find My Mac
When you use Find My Mac to lock your Mac, it also prevents your Mac from starting up by setting a firmware-based password. As soon as it receives the lock instruction from iCloud, your Mac displays a lock screen that has four to six blank fields.

mac-find-my-mac-screen.png


To unlock your Mac, enter the code you created when you locked your Mac from the Find My Mac website.
 
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MRxROBOT said:
If the computer has been wiped, you are out of luck. No way to track it or ‘brick’ it. Macs from 2010 and newer are able to be locked down with a firmware password that would prevent just that. You seem unaware of this feature so I’m going to assume you did not have it enabled. Next time firmware lock your mac and encrypt the drive, this will at the very least protect your data and make it impossible for the would be thief to use as is but of course everything other than the logic board could still be parted out and sold to make a buck (not a likely scenario as everything is more or less soldered/glued together).

You can set a firmware password on these Macs:
Click to expand...

It's possible to obtain the EFI password from the EFI dump.

It's also possible to flash the EFI with one from another MacBook and bypass the EFI lock.

That said, this is probably not something most people can do.
 
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tubeexperience said:
It's possible to obtain the EFI password from the EFI dump.

It's also possible to flash the EFI with one from another MacBook and bypass the EFI lock.

That said, this is probably not something most people can do.
Click to expand...

As tubeexperience pointed out it is possible to hack, not likely but possible. Without a basic understanding of micro chip controllers and linux it is however a moot point. An unlikely skill set of most would be thieves. This is also why I recommend everybody to encrypt their drives in addition to firmware locking their Macs to protect their data.
[doublepost=1462612295][/doublepost]Flashing the EFI starts out like this. This is far beyond the scope of what people can realistically expect their Macs to be subject to. Nevertheless a valid point made by tubeexperience. My original post should be amended to highly improbable not impossible to use.

2h4grol.jpg


Image courtesy of THAGH05T.
 

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MRxROBOT said:
If the computer has been wiped, you are out of luck. No way to track it or ‘brick’ it.
mac-firmware-lock-icon.png



Enabling Find My Mac also sets a firmware password. Did you by any chance have Find My Mac enabled?

Find My Mac
When you use Find My Mac to lock your Mac, it also prevents your Mac from starting up by setting a firmware-based password. As soon as it receives the lock instruction from iCloud, your Mac displays a lock screen that has four to six blank fields.


To unlock your Mac, enter the code you created when you locked your Mac from the Find My Mac website.
Click to expand...

tubeexperience said:
It's possible to obtain the EFI password from the EFI dump.

It's also possible to flash the EFI with one from another MacBook and bypass the EFI lock.

That said, this is probably not something most people can do.
Click to expand...

Luckily i got my macbook from the department. Find my mac was enabled but can you please recommend me what to do for further safety. Is there anyway i could apply passcode type something on boot. i know everything can be broken by another mac or can make money by tearing macbook and selling its parts. but i could have some sort of security on firmware or boot so one couldn't use mac easily or could reinstall operating system.

Possibly one wouldn't try as much but return the computer after looking at message provided by me via find my mac. But if it is so easy just to broke find my mac or simple passcodes by reinstalling OS x. what would be the benefit of it ?
[doublepost=1462691974][/doublepost]
MRxROBOT said:
You can set a firmware password on these Macs:
mac-firmware-lock-icon.png



Enabling Find My Mac also sets a firmware password. Did you by any chance have Find My Mac enabled?
.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me why is this for ? if someone tries to boot from usb or internet recovery ??
 
Jack99999999 said:
Luckily i got my macbook from the department. Find my mac was enabled but can you please recommend me what to do for further safety. Is there anyway i could apply passcode type something on boot. i know everything can be broken by another mac or can make money by tearing macbook and selling its parts. but i could have some sort of security on firmware or boot so one couldn't use mac easily or could reinstall operating system.

Possibly one wouldn't try as much but return the computer after looking at message provided by me via find my mac. But if it is so easy just to broke find my mac or simple passcodes by reinstalling OS x. what would be the benefit of it ?
[doublepost=1462691974][/doublepost]

Can you tell me why is this for ? if someone tries to boot from usb or internet recovery ??
Click to expand...

That's good to hear! Be a bit more careful with it next time ;)
I recommend enabling the firmware password and encrypting your drive right away. The former to make it next to impossible for most to use the Mac and latter to protect your data, so at least you have the peace of mind that your data won't be compromised if your Mac is lost again.

A firmware password is in fact enabled at boot. Without this password a Mac cannot be booted into recovery, have the OS reinstalled, enter target disk mode, boot from an external drive, resetting the PRAM, etc etc. It does exactly what you are asking. It is not easily broken into, in fact it takes quite a bit to bypass this. See the photo above I attached for an idea of just how far beyond the scope of most people's skill set it is to bypass the firmware password.
[doublepost=1462697410][/doublepost]It should be noted that only Macs I included in the list above from 2010 onwards use the EFI firmware password and previous Macs use Apple Open Firmware which is less secure. Everything I have stated above is in regards to Macs with the EFI firmware password.
 
Last edited:
MRxROBOT said:
That's good to hear! Be a bit more careful with it next time ;)
I recommend enabling the firmware password and encrypting your drive right away. The former to make it next to impossible for most to use the Mac and latter to protect your data, so at least you have the peace of mind that your data won't be compromised if your Mac is lost again.

A firmware password is in fact enabled at boot. Without this password a Mac cannot be booted into recovery, have the OS reinstalled, enter target disk mode, boot from an external drive, resetting the PRAM, etc etc. It does exactly what you are asking. It is not easily broken into, in fact it takes quite a bit to bypass this. See the photo above I attached for an idea of just how far beyond the scope of most people's skill set it is to bypass the firmware password.
[doublepost=1462697410][/doublepost]It should be noted that only Macs I included in the list above from 2010 onwards use the EFI firmware password and previous Macs use Apple Open Firmware which is less secure. Everything I have stated above is in regards to Macs with the EFI firmware password.
Click to expand...
i have macbook retina 2015. you have any link for tutorial for setting this password and encrypting my disc ?
 
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