Locked Macbook while installing Mountain Lion. Please help!

Question

Level 1

0 points

Locked Macbook while installing Mountain Lion. Please help!

Hi there!

Last night I decided to update my early 2011 Macbook pro 13" to Mountain Lion. I bought it, It downloaded correctly, but to my surprise, after the first reboot during the installation the computer started beeping and a "Find my Mac" window appeared telling me the laptop had been blocked and that a PIN should be entered in order to unlock it.

I have not blocked the mac myself, I live alone and I really doubt somebody has hacked my icloud account. I did check the service out last fall, when it started, just to check the functionality but this install seems to have taken an almost year-old test block out of the grave. Obviously, I can't remember the pin, I've tried all my usual pins and none have worked.

I called Apple Customer Care and they refered me to a local retailer (There's no official service in my town) and the guy told me to bring the computer there and that the would try to have a look at it in five days! he also told me that since it was no longer under warranty that both the labor hours and the material would be at my expense.

As you can imagine I'm very frustrated since depend on the laptop for my daily work...

I've already tried the PRAM reset and I get a different grey screen displaying a lock and a text box to input the pin, no second or third reboot.

Any help would be greatly apreciated! Thanks in advance.

PS: My issue seems very similar to this: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4135937?start=0&tstart=0 The user who posted it made it work but unfortunately he didn't share the solution. Is this a bug???

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 4:14 AM

Reply

Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jul 27, 2012 4:22 AM in response to crisPNA

AFAIK, if you can't remember the passcode, you will have to erase the drive & reinstall OS X. I know of no other way around this fact. The user, in the thread you linked, found the correct passcode.

Reply

Answer 2

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jul 27, 2012 4:23 AM in response to crisPNA

Have you thought about login in to iCloud, or whatever it was that you setup the block from, from your iPhone and taking the block off?

Reply

Answer 3

crisPNA Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2012 4:35 AM in response to Shootist007

Thanks for your fast replies!
Shootlist007, when I access icloud.com/find, the "Remote block" and "Remote wipe" buttons for the Macbook are greyed out. Is this the normal behaviour? I had supossed that you cannot cancel the block from the icloud page, that it had to be done by entering the PIN in the laptop. Is this correct?

Reply

Answer 4

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jul 27, 2012 4:43 AM in response to crisPNA

Once you issue a remote lock, it cannot be stopped. The only way to unlock is if you have physical possession of the computer & you enter the correct pin code.

Reply

Answer 5

crisPNA Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2012 5:04 AM in response to wjosten

That's really annoying! Remember that I have not issued the lock. it's a bug or issue in the install process that randomly reissues old remote blocks that has happened, as far as I know, to other two discussion board users as you can see in the thread I linked before. I'm sure there are more out there!

Really great there's no way to remove the lock, even if you have the sale receipt or even the laptop is linked to your apple ID or any other way to prove that you are the legitimate owner of the laptop.

Remember a test pin code used almost a year ago or reinstall the OS? I'm loving Mountain Lion.

Reply

Answer 6

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jul 27, 2012 5:07 AM in response to crisPNA

Well I guess the only thing to do is Wipe the drive and restore from your Time Machine backup.

Or Wipe the drive and reinstall everything if you don't have a TM backup.

Bug or no bug. You are smack dap in the middle of the Rock and Hard spot.

Reply

Answer 7

crisPNA Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2012 5:16 AM in response to Shootist007

I see!

Fortunately I have a TM backup!
I'll try every PIN code I can think of before being more drastic...

Thanks guys!

Reply

Answer 8

crisPNA Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 8, 2012 1:57 AM in response to crisPNA

Hi!

Just in case someones is interested. There are differences between newer and older macbooks. In newer models, once it's blocked you can't wipe the drive, choose another boot disk or boot from the OSX DVD. All boot options are blocked when the lock is activated. In my case Find my mac wouldn't let you wipe the macbook while locked (Can't tell if it always is like is).

I finally took it to an authorized Apple service provider and they removed the lock. Apple must be aware of the issue about older "Find my Mac" locks resurrecting while upgrading to mountain lion since they charged me no fee for the repair. Warranty was expired. They had to erase my HDD, but since I have a TM back up, it's no big deal.

For those who are trying to reset PRAM to bypass the firmware lock with no success, as I said before, you must know that only works with computers made before 2011 (not sure about the date). EFI passwords (Find my mac password are) in Macs made from that date on can't be bypassed that way. The only way is taking it to a Apple service provider with a proof of purchase. The only other way I've read about would imply a complicated process of replacing a tiny and delicate chip from the logic board with a programed new one and replacing the hard drive. Can't see why a legitimate owner would do that!!

I think Apple has done a good job with the remote lock with the new firmware!! It's virtually impossible to boot, wipe or reinstall a locked system. I don't know wether the data on the HDD would be accesible if a data thief put it in another computer. Maybe he could see the files if the HDD wasn't protected with some kind of data encryption or something.

Thanks again, Bye!

Reply

Answer 9

Nov 24, 2012 4:11 PM in response to crisPNA

I've a mac mini and I'm the legitm owner, apple store recognize this, but said that the unique way to remove the lock is to replace the logic board, and just because my computer warranty expired about less then 90 days ago, I need to pay about $350 to replace the logic main board.

Any ideas?

Reply