I locked my 2011 macbook pro with a firmware password

I recently locked myself out of my mac with a firmware password. what makes it worse is that I tried to install snow leopard on a 2011 macbook pro with thunderbolt, so I deleted my hard drive and upon reboot could not access anything not even a command line or anything. The only thing that does boot is a lion dvd until it comes up with a mobile me lock code which is weird because its booting from DVD. any ideas on how apple gets a hash from the firmware screen maybe i can then run it through john the ripper or even send the hash to apple myself. Whats worse is that everything was fine before this and I even tried installing lion onto the hard drive using another mac pro (I have 3 of them) and popping it back in the new mac but all i get is a white screen. The firmware lock is my main problem. (newer macs firmware does not allow anything older then lion to be installed). I can't install anything on it and I don't want to Drive 50 miles to the nearest apple store.

Gas up and drive the 50 miles because the only way you're going to unlock a firmware locked new Mac is to take it to Apple. Bring your original sales receipt with you.

Just to summarise:

Everything was fine, but then you:

1. Locked yourself out by instituting a firmware password -- why? -- and then forgetting what it was.

2. Tried to install an older OS on an MBP that came almost certainly came with Lion (so this would be impossible) with no backup

3. On said MBP, you are trying to boot a "Lion DVD" (no such thing) and getting a "Mobile Me Lock Code" (never heard of it).

I'm with chscag on this one. Stop digging.

amiga500 said:

...I don't want to Drive 50 miles to the nearest apple store.

Click to expand...

Driving 50 miles isn't so bad...unless you like having a $1500 doorstop!

- Nick

You don't need to drive to apple store to get it removed and the guy who said "That's the only way" shouldn't be saying that unless you he is certain 100%.

All you gotta do is buy a phillips "1" screw which you will screw the under case of the laptop off and then you will take 1 ram stick out or if there is only 1 ram stick in there add 1 ram stick then turn on the computer and hold the command options P and R keys on your keyboard immediately after you turn it on and before you hear the Chime boot sound then it will reboot a few times keep holding all keys while it reboots and that will clear the firmware password which works all the time unless your a big federal agency or employer that can afford to prevent things like these from resetting your laptop.

That method you suggested is well known but only works on older MacBooks and MacBook Pros. If you've been following the latest Apple security information you would know that the newer Macs have been changed to prevent removing a module and resetting the firmware password.

The only way is to bring it to Apple along with proof of ownership. They can remove the firmware password using a special method which is proprietary to Apple. And yes, we're sure.

Being hasty or brash with your first reply especially when you obviously do not have all the information doesn't sit well.

Staff man your wrong my friend, I have a 2011 macbook pro and i removed the password myself using this method. u don't need me to take a screenshot of my specs to prove i have one. proof i have a 2011 macbook is that i experience same overheating getting hot issue where certain applications make the processor run on high for long time. Other people online also reported this issue. So maybe the 2012 version and newer stopped this but believe me it works on mine now, i did it myself man.

A thief's worst day is getting a macbook in which the firmware password can't be removed and apple made an intelligent choice with this. It's the equivalent of a bios password on a regular pc that the cmos battery is soldiered and can't be removed to clear the password. All apple laptops should come with a preset firmware password so that people can never unlock it if it's stolen and taking it back to apple means going back to the original owner.

Here is a story of a real life dumn criminal in which i was surprised the apple store didn't call the police on him. The thief took the laptop to apple saying he needed it reset because it was running slow (even though it had no password on it) and a serial check of the genius bar revealed it was reported stolen so they kept it from him.

Perhaps you just got lucky or?? I know the method you stated does work on the older MacBooks and MacBook Pro machines. How much older? As late as 2010 as far as I'm aware.

Anyway, read this article: LINK Interesting reading because it jives with exactly what Apple has done on the late model MBP and Air machines.

Yes maybe I did get lucky. Mine is definately early 2011 core i5 13" model but I did read online that with the new air they started building the ram onto the mother board itself which would kind of suck if memory failed or leaked and needed replacement. Air has such slim design it causes problems with things so tightly packed. Since ram is onboard in the air u cant do the pram and nvram clear and only authorized apple providers and apple store genius bar have the apple tools to do it.

I don't know how they made the bigger macbook pro's resistant to firmware password clearing.