New to me MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch early 2015 locks me out

[pincrete]

I recently purchased an early 2015 MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch on ebay from the UK as it is near impossible to buy QWERTY macs, or secondhand ones in Crete, where I live. The Macbook duly arrived and started up fine. As I wanted to install a new system, I set the start up to an external HDD, the password to blank and restarted with the USB external HDD connected.

The Macbook partially loaded then crashed part way through startup and has since given a 'lock' symbol whenever I attempt to restart. It refuses to open fully to its own system and refuses to open to an external drive with another installed system or to a USB stick with an installer and sometimes gives a "missing system ??" symbol. Instead of or after the 'lock'.

I've tried to open to recevery disk (Command R) during startup, but it doesn't respond - or doesn't have a recovery partition. I also tried 'Option' startup, all to no effect.

I didn't know about 'hardware locking' as none of my previous macs had this feature, but don't know if that is the problem. The seller himself did not know about any hardware lock password either.

What can I do? Mac advice says I should take it to an Apple service bar with proof of original purchase, but they are non-existent here in Crete and I only have proof of ebay purchase.

 

[Rod]

So when you got this MBP it "started up fine". Does this mean it opened to the Setup Wizard and that you followed the prompts to setup as your own with your Apple ID?
Why would you not just upgrade the macOS directly from there?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

That lock symbol usually means that the drive has failed and thus the "missing system" message and unable to get into recovery console. However, using the OPTION key, you should be able to boot to an external drive if it is configured to do so.

If you had a bootable clone from a previous machine, that would work. If you had a macOS installer on a USB stick that would work as well.

Either of those options would allow you to get into Disk Utility to see what's happening with the internal drive.

Assuming the drive has indeed failed, you can replace it with a new one purchased from OWC or another vendor.

 

[pincrete]

So when you got this MBP it "started up fine". Does this mean it opened to the Setup Wizard and that you followed the prompts to setup as your own with your Apple ID?
Why would you not just upgrade the macOS directly from there?

No it had been already set up - I was wanting to install an older, rather than a newer system - for compatability with other Macs, but I never got as far as installing anything. It simply failed to boot to the external although that had a valid system on it.

 

[krs]

No it had been already set up - I was wanting to install an older, rather than a newer system - for compatability with other Macs, but I never got as far as installing anything. It simply failed to boot to the external although that had a valid system on it.

Which version of macOS did you want to install? Or boot to?
Did you check that it is compatible with the 2015 MacBook Pro that you have?

 

[IWT]

No it had been already set up

This is what concerns me. You should have been given a Mac that, on opening, started with - "Welcome" in several languages. That way you would know that the Mac had been wiped of all data and setup as new.

What may/may not have happened is that the previous owner still has "ownership" of the Mac by not wiping it clean and disassociating the Mac from his/her Apple ID.

Is it possible for you to provide more detail about what you encountered when you first powered up the Mac? The more detail, the better we can understand your plight.

Ian

 

[Rod]

As Ian said above, this is my concern too. If a seller has not followed the simple, easily available instructions for preparing a second hand Mac device for sale then your first step should be to contact the seller. The reason for this is that some parts of the process require the users Apple ID to complete, such as Apple's device location feature "Find My Mac".
The steps involve signing out of iCloud, Messages, FaceTime and deauthorising the device from iTunes Store removing it from that users account.
All of this prevents someone from simply stealing a Mac device, plugging it into an external bootable source, erasing it and using it as their own. Precisely what these measures are designed to prevent.
So short of contacting the seller and requesting they complete these steps your only option is probably to provide proof of ownership at an Apple store and get them to unlock it. It's possible that the seller may have to do the same thing given it is now locked so I's suggest you get proof of ownership and sale from that person if possible.

 

[pincrete]

Which version of macOS did you want to install? Or boot to?
Did you check that it is compatible with the 2015 MacBook Pro that you have?

I wanted to boot to El Capitan, and subsequently install High Sierra - so both are within the range of the machine (Yosemite to Monterey)

 

[pincrete]

This is what concerns me. You should have been given a Mac that, on opening, started with - "Welcome" in several languages. That way you would know that the Mac had been wiped of all data and setup as new.

What may/may not have happened is that the previous owner still has "ownership" of the Mac by not wiping it clean and disassociating the Mac from his/her Apple ID.

Is it possible for you to provide more detail about what you encountered when you first powered up the Mac? The more detail, the better we can understand your plight.

Ian

It was a functioning system, with no documents, but no 'welcome'.

I had never heard of the 'lock' feature as none of my previous Macs had it, and it was easy to do exactly what you say below - startup from a working external, wipe and start again (but not the stealing part!) . I may have to try to recontact the seller, or go to an Apple store, but as I said, Apple service is almost none existent here

 

[MacInWin]

Apple service is almost none existent here

If you go to Apple.com and then Support, you may be able to schedule a telephone service call. It's not as good as going into the store, but they may be able to help some. You might have to pay for the call if the Mac is out of warranty, which I suspect it is.

 

[krs]

Can someone explain what would trigger the Mac to show the "lock" symbol?
When I read about it on the net, this happens if a password is required when starting up, the wrong password is then entered three times - this on restart brings up the password hint, and if the user still doesn't enter the right password, then the Mac will/might lock up.
But it seems none of that actually happened here.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

@pincrete are you seeing the following image?

If so, that means that there's a firmware lock on the machine and you have to get the password from the original owner to get back in.

 

[pm-r]

If so, that means that there's a firmware lock on the machine and you have to get the password from the original owner to get back in.

That would explain the possible problem very nicely.




- Patrick
=======

 

[krs]

That would explain the possible problem very nicely.

Yes.
Here is a nice explanation about Mac firmware passwords for various years:

How to Remove Mac Firmware Password + New way if you have a 2018-2020 T2 Mac!

You can now remove the firmware password (+ erase all data) on a T2 Mac without Apple Support if you forgot it. In this article, I will go over the history of the firmware password on Intel Mac computers. After that, I will show you a new way how to remove the firmware password (and … Continue...

mrmacintosh.com

Bottom line for a 2015 Mac:
1. Get the password from the person who originally set it up, or
2. Contact Apple with proof of ownership - the procedure for that is briefly outlined in the write-up.

 

[pincrete]

@pincrete are you seeing the following image?

If so, that means that there's a firmware lock on the machine and you have to get the password from the original owner to get back in.

Yes, exactly that

 

[Raz0rEdge]

OK, in that case, read the link that KRS posted above yours and follow those instructions. #1 is the easiest and the fact that someone sold you a Mac with the firmware lock on is crazy.

 

[pincrete]

Can someone explain what would trigger the Mac to show the "lock" symbol?
When I read about it on the net, this happens if a password is required when starting up, the wrong password is then entered three times - this on restart brings up the password hint, and if the user still doesn't enter the right password, then the Mac will/might lock up.
But it seems none of that actually happened here.

I believe trying to start-up from an external source triggers the lock, but I didn't know that at the time.

 

[Slydude]

I believe trying to start-up from an external source triggers the lock, but I didn't know that at the time.

If this is an open firmware password issue, and I think it is, it's not just triggered by someone trying to start from an external device. I've owned Macs since the '90s and have always been able to start them from external devices.

Open firmware passwords prevent the Mac from booting from any drive other than the one specified by the owner/user who set the password. Here's Apple's take on the matter

A firmware password prevents users who don’t have the password from starting up from any internal or external storage device other than the startup disk you’ve selected. It also blocks the ability to use most startup key combinations."
Emphasis mine.

What is a firmware password on Mac?

Use a firmware password to prevent others from starting up your Mac using an internal or external storage device.

support.apple.com

 

[pincrete]

If this is an open firmware password issue, and I think it is, it's not just triggered by someone trying to start from an external device. I've owned Macs since the '90s and have always been able to start them from external devices.

Open firmware passwords prevent the Mac from booting from any drive other than the one specified by the owner/user who set the password. Here's Apple's take on the matter

What is a firmware password on Mac?

Use a firmware password to prevent others from starting up your Mac using an internal or external storage device.

support.apple.com

I have emailed the previous owner (in the UK) asking if he knows the firmware password - as yet no reply.

I had plugged in the external drive and selected it as startup before rebooting, so that probably triggered the firmware lock - which I simply didn't know about, having never had anything with that facility before, most of my Macs have been older.

 

[krs]

I had plugged in the external drive and selected it as startup before rebooting, so that probably triggered the firmware lock

I assume you tried starting up with all external drives and installers disconnected - just using the internal boot drive.