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needhelp91

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 20, 2015
9
0
Please scroll the the bold writing at the bottom if its TL:DR for you :)

Hey guys,

I'd really appreciate some advice. I have a macbook pro 2012 that I was given by work around a year ago. I haven't had any noticeable issues with it, however I wanted to upgrade the operating system.

Initially it had a dual boot setup for windows and apple, however when I attempted to install the updated operating system I stupidly formatted the whole HDD T_T.

Now when I try to start up the laptop it shows my the folder with the flashing ? and when I try get into recovery it gives me a locked screen with the password entry box.

I've done a fair amount of research on the internet and have come up with an idea and I want to run it by you guys to see if it will work.


I'd like to take out the HDD from the macbook and put it into an external enclosure, then I would like to install mac OS x onto the HDD external before re-inserting the HDD into the macbook.

Would this allow the macbook to boot as normal?

Thanks in advance,

NH91
 
Please scroll the the bold writing at the bottom if its TL:DR for you :)

Hey guys,

I'd really appreciate some advice. I have a macbook pro 2012 that I was given by work around a year ago. I haven't had any noticeable issues with it, however I wanted to upgrade the operating system.

Initially it had a dual boot setup for windows and apple, however when I attempted to install the updated operating system I stupidly formatted the whole HDD T_T.

Now when I try to start up the laptop it shows my the folder with the flashing ? and when I try get into recovery it gives me a locked screen with the password entry box.

I've done a fair amount of research on the internet and have come up with an idea and I want to run it by you guys to see if it will work.


I'd like to take out the HDD from the macbook and put it into an external enclosure, then I would like to install mac OS x onto the HDD external before re-inserting the HDD into the macbook.

Would this allow the macbook to boot as normal?

Thanks in advance,

NH91
 
Please scroll the the bold writing at the bottom if its TL:DR for you :)

Hey guys,

I'd really appreciate some advice. I have a macbook pro 2012 that I was given by work around a year ago. I haven't had any noticeable issues with it, however I wanted to upgrade the operating system.

Initially it had a dual boot setup for windows and apple, however when I attempted to install the updated operating system I stupidly formatted the whole HDD T_T.

Now when I try to start up the laptop it shows my the folder with the flashing ? and when I try get into recovery it gives me a locked screen with the password entry box.

I've done a fair amount of research on the internet and have come up with an idea and I want to run it by you guys to see if it will work.


I'd like to take out the HDD from the macbook and put it into an external enclosure, then I would like to install mac OS x onto the HDD external before re-inserting the HDD into the macbook.

Would this allow the macbook to boot as normal?

Thanks in advance,

NH91
 
The password most likely means that you have activated FireVault. Try entering your main account's password and see if it works.

Otherwise, press Command+Shift+R at bootup to launch Internet Recovery in case the main partition is damaged.
 
The password most likely means that you have activated FireVault. Try entering your main account's password and see if it works.

Otherwise, press Command+Shift+R at bootup to launch Internet Recovery in case the main partition is damaged.

Hey thanks for the reply, I don't think firevault has been activated as I've already completed wiped the hdd there is nothing on it. I'll try the other idea you've mentioned however I guess I will be stuck with the padlock one more time :/
 
Is it possible to install Mac OS X onto an external and then put that hdd inside the MacBook to get it running?
 
Okay great, now is it possible to install Mac OS X onto a hdd from a windows pc?
 
Hey thanks for the reply, I don't think firevault has been activated as I've already completed wiped the hdd there is nothing on it. I'll try the other idea you've mentioned however I guess I will be stuck with the padlock one more time :/
I totally forgot, that password is most likely an EFI password. Somebody set this password on your computer to prevent it from booting to anything other than the main partition (most likely your work did that). If you did it yourself, try remembering it. If someone else did it, try asking anyone that might have done it.
Is it possible to install Mac OS X onto an external and then put that hdd inside the MacBook to get it running?
Yes, no problem with that, as long as you are capable of removing the hard drive safely and you have an external enclosure.
Okay great, now is it possible to install Mac OS X onto a hdd from a windows pc?
You could try iBoot, which lets you boot into Mac partitions, but you will need an Intel processor (not AMD) and only specific ones work. Not to mention that you will need a USB stick with the installer, which you will need a Mac to get it going. So, unless everything is already prepared, then not really.

Do what I said and hold Shift+Command+R at bootup and it will boot into Internet Recovery, where it will be able to install a new OS into the hard drive without issue.
 
I totally forgot, that password is most likely an EFI password. Somebody set this password on your computer to prevent it from booting to anything other than the main partition (most likely your work did that). If you did it yourself, try remembering it. If someone else did it, try asking anyone that might have done it.

Yes, no problem with that, as long as you are capable of removing the hard drive safely and you have an external enclosure.

You could try iBoot, which lets you boot into Mac partitions, but you will need an Intel processor (not AMD) and only specific ones work. Not to mention that you will need a USB stick with the installer, which you will need a Mac to get it going. So, unless everything is already prepared, then not really.

Do what I said and hold Shift+Command+R at bootup and it will boot into Internet Recovery, where it will be able to install a new OS into the hard drive without issue.


Ahh, thanks :) - I tried shift command R but it didn't do anything just left me with the flashing '?'

Will find out if work know the efi password, if not I'll have to do what you mentioned above . My other laptop is an i7 4th gen so should be okay I guess.
 
Ahh, thanks :) - I tried shift command R but it didn't do anything just left me with the flashing '?'

Will find out if work know the efi password, if not I'll have to do what you mentioned above . My other laptop is an i7 4th gen so should be okay I guess.
Oops, it's not Command+Shift+R, it's Command+Option+R. My bad. Try that again.
 
Efi lock screen again :/

If a firmware password has been set, there's no way to bypass it. As has been noted, if your employer setup the firmware password, ask them for it. On newer Macs only Apple can bypass a firmware password and they will not do it without proof of purchase. (In other words, if you are the legal owner of the Mac.)
 
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