I put my MacBook Air 2014 in lost mode thinking nothing of it now it is asking for a firmware passcode and I bought this computer 10 years ago nobody has ever touched this computer but now after the big sur update the firmware passcode does not work this is a software glitch and I can’t find my receipt from 10 years ago
[Edited by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.7
If you cannot unlock the firmware lock, then you will need to take the Mac to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider along with valid acceptable proof of purchase & personal ID so they can remove the firmware lock. They may say it is unsupported, but you should be able to make a case for them to assist you to remove the firmware lock. I had to push a bit to have one of our older Macs unlocked a few years ago. I highly recommend contacting Apple or the AASP first to confirm exactly what they will accept for proof of purchase & personal ID since Apple has very strict rules here.
If you don't have valid acceptable proof of purchase, then you not be able to remove the firmware lock which means you will only ever be able to boot to the internal boot drive.
If you cannot unlock the firmware lock, then you will need to take the Mac to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider along with valid acceptable proof of purchase & personal ID so they can remove the firmware lock. They may say it is unsupported, but you should be able to make a case for them to assist you to remove the firmware lock. I had to push a bit to have one of our older Macs unlocked a few years ago. I highly recommend contacting Apple or the AASP first to confirm exactly what they will accept for proof of purchase & personal ID since Apple has very strict rules here.
If you don't have valid acceptable proof of purchase, then you not be able to remove the firmware lock which means you will only ever be able to boot to the internal boot drive.
Lost mode and firmware passcode are two different and completely unrelated things.
You set the passcode. If you can't remember it and don't have the original proof of purchase, you have no-one but yourself to blame.
FYI, actually Lost Mode may set a firmware password lock. I know when one of our systems had some type of Activation Lock that it also had a firmware password lock. The system never had a firmware lock enabled manually. Once we had cleared the Activation Lock, we then had to deal with the firmware lock since that was not removed.
Firmware password not working triggered by lost mode
